Global and national high blood pressure burden and control

High blood pressure is a leading modifiable cause of premature death and one of WHO's global targets for the prevention of non-communicable diseases. Monitoring high blood pressure globally while understanding what is happening at a country level is important to identify tangible and customised solutions for local, national, and global polices to address high blood pressure. As reported in The Lancet by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), 1 NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants. Lancet. 2021; (published online Aug 24.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01330-1 Google Scholar the number of people with hypertension globally in 2019 was over 1 billion and this number has doubled since 1990. In 2019, the prevalence of hypertension in adults aged 30–79 years was 32% in women and 34% in men and very similar to 1990 levels of 32% (95% credible interval [CrI] 30–34) in women and 32% (32–37) in men and consistent with other reports. However, what the authors more clearly explain is that this stable prevalence is the net sum of distinct differences across the world. The analysis highlights the stark differences in hypertension prevalence, treatment, and control, with some regions seeing substantial increases over time and others substantial decreases in prevalence. For example, declines in hypertension prevalence by greater than 12 percentage points in women in Germany, Spain, and Japan and men in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Finland, and Canada; unchanged rates in many low-income and middle-income countries; and steep increases in hypertension prevalence among women in Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Indonesia and men in Uzbekistan, Argentina, and Paraguay. Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participantsImprovements in the detection, treatment, and control of hypertension have varied substantially across countries, with some middle-income countries now outperforming most high-income nations. The dual approach of reducing hypertension prevalence through primary prevention and enhancing its treatment and control is achievable not only in high-income countries but also in low-income and middle-income settings. Full-Text PDF Open Access