PRESS RELEASE
Harnessing Patient Voices on Hypertension - a multi-stakeholder consultation on hypertension care and control
Date : February 28, 2023
Venue : Clarion Hotel President, Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore, Chennai
Time:10 am - 12.30 pm
Speakers
Panel of acclaimed doctors and nutritionists,
from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide, accounting for about half of all heart disease and stroke-related deaths worldwide (World Heart Foundation). A worrying trend is the increase in the prevalence of hypertension in low and middle-income countries. Large vulnerable populations in India live under significant risk of heart attacks and strokes, when it is a condition that can be detected with minimal diagnostic equipment even at primary health care centres. Even treatment costs of the disease are low compared to most other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) prevalent in India. Despite this, India alone has more than 200 million people who are hypertensive or diagnosed with high blood pressure, with a mere 20 million having it under control. A panel of doctors and nutritionists therefore came together in an event organised by Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) to look at “hypertension care and control" on February 28, 2023 in Chennai. Dr. Maheswari, a speaker at the event commented that “Ignorance is the main problem we need to target in hypertension prevention, care and control’.
Hypertension is often called the ‘silent killer’ because it does not cause any symptoms on its own. It is therefore obligatory that routine screening and treatment must be made accessible to the last mile is key if we intend to contain its rise. Dr. Vijay Chakravarthi, also a speaker at the event explained why current data on hypertension in India is underestimated. ‘We do not have accurate data since many people do not know that they are hypertensive and they do not come forward at the early stage. Hypertension is mostly asymptomatic and may show up as a stroke at the last stage even among people in the age group of 30-35.”
The meeting saw participation from doctors, nutritionists, civil society organisations, and media from districts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with Dr.Rashmi Kundapur, explaining the need for health literacy, “To control hypertension you need interventions at 3 levels - medical, policy and community. Although we have adequate medical care for hypertension, appropriate policy and awareness of communities is lacking. Health literacy in India is only 12%. The government needs to organise mass awareness campaigns.”
For further information, please contact: Keerthana Thangavel – 72002 31350 | keerthana.thangavel@cag.org.in
About CAG: Citizen consumer & civic Action Group (CAG) is a thirty seven year old non-profit and non-political organisation working on citizen rights and good governance. It has worked primarily to protect the interests of consumers and citizens of Chennai though its efforts have had state level and even national level impacts.