Background: Primary health care (PHC) physicians’ perceptions are vital to understand as they are the first-line health care providers in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk assessment and management. This study aims to explore PHC physicians’ perceptions on their roles and their perceptions on management and risk reduction approaches on CVD risk reduction and management in Fiji. Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted in the Suva Medical area among 7 health centers from 1 August to 31 September, 2021. Purposive sampling was used to recruit physicians who worked in the Suva medical area as PHC physicians with at least 6 months’ experience in the Special Outpatients Department clinics. In-depth interview were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire over the telephone and recorded on a tablet device application. The interview content was then transcribed, and thematic analysis was done. Results: This study included 25 PHC physicians. From the thematic analysis, 2 major themes emerged with 6 subthemes. Theme 1 was CVD management skills with 3 subthemes including education, experience and trainings, beliefs and attitudes of physicians, self-confidence and effectiveness in CVD risk reduction and management. Theme 2 was roles and expectations with 3 subthemes including perceptions of effective treatment, perceptions of physicians’ roles and perceptions of patients’ expectations. Physicians generally see their role as central and imperative. They perceive to be important and leading toward combating CVDs. Conclusions: Physicians’ perceptions on their commitment to prevention and management of CVDs through their skills and knowledge, beliefs and motivation should be acknowledged. It is recommended that the physicians are updated on the current evidence-based medicine. Limitations include results that may not be the reflection of the entire physician and multidisciplinary community and the difficulties in face-to-face interviews due to the coronavirus diseases of 2019 pandemic.

Background Public health prevention strategies have been developed to overcome the disease burden. Despite all the available resources, there have been several challenges in keeping up with the practices in Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) risk management. The aim of this study is to explore Primary Care Physicians’ (PCP) perceptions on barriers to CVD risk management and strategies to overcome these barriers in Suva, Fiji. Methods This is a qualitative study conducted in the Suva Medical area among 7 health centers from August 1st to September 30th, 2021. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants who provided in-depth and detailed information. From those physicians who worked in the Suva medical area as Primary Health Care (PHC) physicians, those who had at least 6 months experience and those who had some Special Outpatients Department (SOPD) exposure, in-depth interview was conducted using semi-structured questionnaire over the telephone and recorded in a mobile app. The interview content was then transcribed and thematic analysis was done. Results This study included 25 PHC physicians. From the thematic analysis, 2 major themes were developed including perceived barriers to CVD risk management and some of the strategies to overcome these barriers. Some of the barriers identified include patient factors such as non-compliance, physician factors such as time-constraints and lack of training, and health system factors such as poor medical records system and lack of basic resource. The strategic support systems include patient expectations, physician’s encouragement, utilization of resources, laws and legislations and continuing evidence-based medicine. Conclusions Physicians’ perceptions on the barriers and the strategies to overcome those barriers in CVD risk management plays an important role. The barriers include those of physician factors, patient factors and the health system as a whole. It is suggested to encourage shared-decision making in CVD management, enhance physician support and reinforce policies and research to bring about positive change and improvements in the quality of care.