Today, Monday, 17th May 2021 is World Hypertension Day on the theme “Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer”.
Launched on May 14, 2005, The World Hypertension League has been dedicating May 17 of every year as World Hypertension Day ever since 2006.
While the inaugural theme in 2005 was ‘Awareness of high blood pressure, in 2006 it was ‘Treat to goal’ and through different themes each year, the WHL intends to not only raise awareness about hypertension but also of its factors and prevention methods since it affects more than 30% of the adult population worldwide which accounts for more than one billion people around the world.
More than one in four adults in Ghana have hypertension.
This high prevalence has persisted for decades and is similar in rural and urban populations.
The United Nations estimates that Ghana’s adult population in 2020 is about 19.54 million representing 62.9% of the total population.
Hypertension is among the leading causes of admissions and deaths in Ghana.
It was the third leading cause of admission and the leading cause of deaths, accounting for 4.7% of the total admissions and 15.3% of the total deaths in Ghana in 2017.
Applying the 27.0% prevalence to this figure translates into 5.27 million people who have hypertension.
Central and Eastern Europe have the highest rates for men, while the highest rates for women are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Prevalence is lowest in rich Western and Asian countries, including South Korea, America, and Canada.
In only 36 countries high blood pressure is more common in women than in men.
Raised blood pressure (BP) is responsible for 7.6 million deaths per annum worldwide (13.5% of the total), more than any other risk factor. Around 54% of stroke and 47% of coronary heart disease are attributable to high BP.
The most common causes of hypertension include smoking, obesity or being overweight, diabetes, having a sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity, high salt or alcohol intake levels, insufficient consumption of calcium, potassium, or magnesium, a deficiency in vitamin D, stress, aging, chronic kidney disease and adrenal and thyroid conditions or tumors. Some individuals may also be genetically predisposed to hypertension.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Kofi Atakora
