Africa-Press – Mauritius. An awareness session on hypertension, aimed at raising awareness of high blood pressure (BP) and its impacts on health, kickstarted, this morning, at the Emmanuel Anquetil Building, Port Louis. This event is organised in the context of May Measurement Month which is carried out every year in the month of May.
Present on the occasion, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, recalled that the Ministry has been collaborating with the International Society of Hypertension since May 2017 to participate in the May Measurement Month in Mauritius.
He underlined that the objective of the Month is to highlight the importance of measuring BP and to identify and facilitate the reduction of the BP of those people who require intervention to lower their BP according to current guidelines.
He underlined that raised BP is the biggest single contributing risk factor to global death and to the global burden of disease. This impact, he said, is largely mediated through increased rates of cardiovascular disease, specifically coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and renal disease.
He dwelt on the importance of organising such awareness sessions so as to sensitise the population on the importance of knowing participants’ BP so as to prevent any heart disease, stroke or kidney diseases.
Dr Jagutpal highlighted that during the month of May, several such sessions will be held across the country on work sites, in Community Centres, and Social Welfare Centres.
During these awareness sessions, the population will undergo free blood pressure screening as well as benefit from counselling and diet and lifestyle treatment advice to all those screened who have blood pressure in the high-normal and hypertensive ranges, he indicated.
Hypertension in Mauritius and globally
Hypertension is the principal cause of Mauritians attending community hospitals, Area Health Centers and Mediclinics in Mauritius.
In 2015, the prevalence of hypertension among Mauritian adults aged 25 – 74 years was 28.4% which marked a significant decrease in the prevalence of hypertension compared to 38.0% in 2009.
Around the world, raised blood pressure currently causes approximately 10.8 million deaths each year worldwide and this figure is expected to rise, given an expanding and aging global population.
The aetiology of raised blood pressure is largely explicable by identified environmental factors such as obesity, excessive intake of alcohol and dietary salt, and insufficient exercise.
May Measurement Month
It is a project initiated by the International Society of Hypertension and took place for the first time during May 2017. The majority of people with raised hypertension are often unaware of actually having it as the condition has no noticeable symptoms. BP measurement is therefore the only accurate way of identifying any problems.
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
