Nearly 294 million people in Southeast Asia region living with hypertension, says WHO

New Delhi: Hypertension is a driving force in the global epidemic of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and the leading risk factor for death and disability globally, said WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Saima Wazed on Friday.

It is estimated that more than 294 million people are living with hypertension in the Southeast Asia Region, Wazed said. On World Hypertension Day, Wazed said that efforts to prevent and control hypertension need to be strengthened to meet global and national targets. It should be an integral part of every nation’s journey towards Universal Health Coverage.

This year, the theme is a call to ‘Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer.’ High intake of salt, tobacco and alcohol, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, stress, and air pollution are key risk factors for the rising prevalence of hypertension, she stated.

“Early detection and control are crucial. Among adults with hypertension, half of them are unaware that they have it. Nearly one person in six does not have their blood pressure under control. If uncontrolled, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and early death.”

“Limited access to affordable healthcare services for hypertension is one of the prime reasons for the low Universal Service Coverage Index for most countries in our region and impacts access to quality health services,” she said. The South-East Asia Region has identified the prevention and control of hypertension as one of the priorities. The Seventy-sixth Regional Committee in 2022 endorsed the initiative, SEAHEARTS: Accelerating Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases in the South-East Asia Region. This can be considered the world’s largest expansion of cardiovascular disease prevention and control in primary health care. The “Dhaka Call to Action” which accelerates the control of cardiovascular diseases in a quarter of the world’s population, guides how to achieve the SEAHEARTS milestone of placing 100 million people with hypertension and diabetes on protocol-based management by 2025.

Countries across the region are implementing evidence-based strategies to mitigate the associated risk factors. Encouragingly, trends indicate a decline in tobacco use and exposure to household air pollution, she said.

Notably, four countries have initiated measures to eliminate trans-fatty acids from their national food supply chains while two countries have implemented standards for labelling and marketing to provide consumers with the information needed to make healthier dietary choices, Wazed said.