Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a major risk factor in heart disease, stroke and kidney disease (the WHO has identified hypertension as the top cause of CVD-related deaths) – and over 1.5 billion people suffer from it worldwide. The annual World Hypertension Day is to raise awareness about the condition – the general public are often not aware of the causes of high blood pressure, the steps that can be taken to reduce it, and the potential impact that it can have on health.
Saturday 17 May is the fourth World Hypertension Day, which has been held every May since 2005. It is led by the World Hypertension League (WHL), a federation of national-level organisations from 85 countries. The WHL works with its member organisations to promote the exchange of information, and to offer methods and programmes to control hypertension, with the objective of ‘promoting the detection, control and prevention of arterial hypertension in populations’.
The theme of this year’s World Hypertension Day is ‘Know your blood pressure – at home!’, and the WHL has produced a leaflet on how to measure blood pressure (click here >> ).
For more information, see the WHL website >>