
In a recent report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), researchers compiled information on the devastating health consequences and economic impacts of uncontrolled hypertension across the globe.
Hypertension prevalence continues to rise worldwide. Hypertensive individuals are at increased risk of heart problems. Hypertension not only affects population health but has also caused considerable economic losses in several nations, warranting early diagnosis and prompt treatment of the condition, facilitated by increasing awareness and coordinated government efforts.
Global report on hypertension: the race against a silent killer. Image Credit: The Creative Guy / Shutterstock
Concerning the report
In the current report, researchers highlighted the regional-, country-, and global-level burden of hypertension and described WHO recommendations on ways to regulate it.
Health and economic implications of hypertension
The report included troubling figures highlighting the far-reaching implications of uncontrolled hypertension, which ranged from heart attacks, strokes, and early mortality to significant economic losses for communities and countries. Moreover, the next profiles provide a country-by-country picture of the burden and control of hypertension.
Hypertension is a frequent and fatal disorder that can lead to various health issues, reminiscent of heart attack, stroke, cardiac failure, and renal damage. In accordance with the research, hypertension affects one out of each five individuals worldwide. Between 1990 and 2019, the count of hypertensive individuals [blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140/90 mm of Hg or consuming hypertension medications] greater than quadrupled, to over one billion from 650.0 million.
Globally, about half of hypertensive persons are blind to their disease. Greater than 75% of hypertensive adults reside in middle- and low-income nations. In accordance with the evaluation, 4 out of each five individuals with hypertension will not be receiving proper treatment, but when countries increased coverage, 76 million fatalities is perhaps avoided between 2023 and 2050.
The economic benefits of enhanced hypertension treatment programs surpass the expenditures by an element of around 18 to 1. Between now and 2050, increasing the proportion of individuals adequately treated for hypertension to levels seen in high-performing nations might save 76 million lives, 120 million strokes, 79 million heart attacks, and 17 million episodes of heart failure. Nevertheless, hypertension management efforts proceed to be ignored, underfunded, and underprioritized.
Recommendations to regulate hypertension
Prevention, early identification, and efficient treatment of elevated blood pressure are highly cost-efficient healthcare interventions, and governments should emphasize them as an element of the national health advantage package provided at primary care centers. Although heredity and older age might raise the possibility of developing hypertension, modifiable risk aspects reminiscent of eating a high-salt weight loss plan, being physically sedentary, and consuming excessive alcohol may increase the chance.
Lifestyle changes, reminiscent of eating a greater weight loss plan, stopping smoking, and being more lively, can all help reduce blood pressure. The vast majority of strokes and cardiac worldwide in current times could also be avoided using inexpensive, protected, and available drugs and other measures reminiscent of salt reduction. Some people may require medications to adequately treat hypertension and forestall associated problems. Using systems like HEARTS, hypertension could also be readily controlled with widely available, protected, and cost-effective generic drugs.
The WHO HEARTS health initiative for cardiovascular wellness in primary care centers and the rules for pharmacologically treating hypertension amongst adults provide tried-and-true techniques for providing successful hypertension therapy at primary care centers. Effective national- and community-level blood pressure control is feasible across nations no matter income levels. With the HEARTS package, over 40 low-income and middle-income nations, including Cuba, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India, have upgraded their blood pressure regulation, enrolling over 17 million individuals in treatment programs.
Nations reminiscent of South Korea and Canada implemented extensive national-level hypertension control programs, and each exceeded the 50% threshold for managing blood pressure amongst hypertensive individuals. Sustained, comprehensive national hypertension management programs may achieve controlling blood pressure and, due to this fact, stopping myocardial infarctions and strokes, in addition to increasing survival in addition to quality of life. For controlling uncontrolled blood pressure, drug- and dose-specific therapeutic regimens with specified motion steps could help simplify therapy and increase adherence.
Regular, continuous access to inexpensive medication is required to make sure the effectiveness of hypertension therapy; in recent times, costs for necessary anti-hypertensive medications have varied by greater than 10-fold amongst nations. Patient outcomes could improve by increasing cooperation between teams to adapt and enhance anti-hypertensive drug regimens in accordance with medical orders and procedures.
Reducing obstacles to health care by offering easy drug regimes, free prescriptions, and near-home appointments for follow-up evaluations, in addition to increasing the supply of BP monitoring devices, could help decrease the hypertension burden. Furthermore, user-centered, easy data systems enable the short collection of important patient-level information, decrease the burden of information entry on healthcare employees, and assist in swift scaling up while preserving or increasing treatment quality.
To conclude, the WHO HEARTS package equips nations with critical tools for improving hypertension prevention, control, and surveillance. This report highlighted advancements in hypertension management and offered advice to governments on ways to safeguard their residents from this silent killer. Strengthening hypertension control is critical for universal health coverage, which is predicated on health systems which might be well-functioning, egalitarian, and robust. Treating hypertension with primary care saves lives and billions of dollars annually.