The government must organise mass awareness campaigns so that people get screened for hypertension, say doctors and nutritionists.
At a stakeholders consultative meeting on hypertension care and control, organised by the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) in the city on Tuesday, speakers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh participated.
They said most people were ignorant of their condition. Also, the country did not have accurate data as people either were unaware of their condition or did not get diagnosed early. According to them, of the over 200 million persons with high blood pressure, only 20 million have it under control.
As hypertension does not cause any symptoms, routine screening and treatment must be accessible to all, the speakers said. Screening at primary healthcare centres would prevent the condition from exacerbating. Also, the treatment cost is low compared to other non-communicable diseases. The participants also called for intervention at the medical, policy and community levels.
Published - February 28, 2023 10:54 pm IST
