WORLD HEALTH DAY
2013
BLOOD PRESSURE — TAKE CONTROL
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Global and Regional Overview
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● High blood pressure is one of the most important
causes of premature death worldwide killing nearly 9.4 million people every year globally, and the problem is growing.
● Over 1 billion people are living with high blood
pressure. In 2008, globally, the overall prevalence of high blood pressure (including those on medication for high blood pressure) in adults aged 25 and above was around 40%.
● Among all WHO regions, the prevalence of
raised blood pressure was highest in the African Region (46%) and lowest in the Region of the Americas (35%). In the South-East Asia Region, 36% of adults have hypertension.
● In all WHO regions, males had a slightly higher
prevalence of raised blood pressure than females, but this difference was only statistically significant in the Region of the Americas and the European Region.
● The prevalence of raised blood pressure in low,
lower-middle and upper-middle income countries is higher (40%) than in high-income countries (35%).
● In high-income countries, strong public health
policies, multisectoral preventive action and widely available diagnosis and treatment have led to a reduction in the prevalence of high blood pressure. In contrast, in many developing countries the disease burden caused by raised blood pressure has increased over the past decade.
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High Blood Pressure — Global and Regional Overview
WORLD HEALTH DAY | 2013
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● High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for
death claiming 1.5 million lives each year in the Region.
● One in three adults in the Region has high blood
pressure.
● Males have a slightly higher prevalence of high
blood pressure than females in almost all countries of the Region.
● In the 10 countries from which data were
available, the prevalence of high blood pressure ranged from 19% in Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea to 42% in Myanmar.
● Prevalence of hypertension is increasing in many
countries in the Region. In India, raised blood pressure increased from 5% in the 1960s to nearly 12% in 1990s, to more than 30% in 2008. In Indonesia, the percentage of adult population with raised blood pressure increased from 8% in 1995 to 32% in 2008. In Myanmar, the Ministry of Health reported an increase in high blood pressure prevalence, from 18% to 31% in males, and from 16% to 29% in females during 2004–2009.
● Ageing population, rapid urbanization and
transition from agrarian life to a wage-earning, modern city life are reported as major
contributors to increased blood pressure in urban areas.
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