A WHO report reveals that around a third of Portuguese people suffer from hypertension (2.7 million adults between 30 and 79 years old) and it is more common in men.
Around a third of Portuguese suffer from hypertension, according to a report published this Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the impact of the disease in the world.
In the profile prepared by the WHO, based on 2019 data, there is 2.7 million adults between 30 and 79 years old with high blood pressure, being more common in men (37%) than in women (28%).
According to the document, for Portugal to achieve a control rate of 50%, it would be necessary to effectively treat more than 69,000 hypertensive patients.
If the progress scenario were achieved, 16,000 deaths could be avoided until 2040according to the WHO, which estimated 32,600 deaths caused by hypertension in 2019.
On the international scene, the United Nations organization states that approximately Four out of five people with hypertension do not receive adequate treatmentwarning that, if countries managed to increase control, 76 million deaths could be avoided in the next 27 years.
120 million strokes, 79 million heart attacks and 17 million cases of heart failure would also be avoided between 2023 and 2050.
Hypertension affects one in three adults around the world, causing strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney damage and other health problems.
“Hypertension can be effectively controlled with simple, low-cost medication regimens, yet only one in five people control it,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement about the report.
Old age, genetics, and poor eating habits can increase the risk of high blood pressure, but a healthier diet, quitting smoking, and being more active can help lower blood pressure.
Hypertension control programs remain neglected (…) with very little funding. oh Strengthen hypertension control. “It must be part of each country’s path towards universal health coverage, supported by well-functioning, equitable and resilient health systems, built on the foundation of primary health care,” he highlighted.
For WHO global ambassador for non-communicable diseases and injuries, Michael R. Bloomberg, most heart attacks and strokes in the world can be prevented with medications and other interventions, such as reducing salt in the diet.
Treating hypertension through primary health care will save lives and at the same time save billions of dollars a year,” he added.
According to the president of the international organization Resolve to Save Lives, Tom Frieden, “More than 1,000 people die every hour. of strokes and heart attacks,” with “the majority of deaths caused by hypertension.”
The report is to be presented at the 78th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, which addresses the progress achieved in the Sustainable Development Goals, including health in the area of pandemic preparedness and response, tuberculosis eradication and universal coverage. Of health.
Source: Observadora
