The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that uncontrolled high blood pressure poses a major global health threat, putting more than 1.4 billion people at risk of premature death.
In its second Global Hypertension Report, released during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, WHO revealed that while 1.4 billion people lived with hypertension in 2024, only about one in five had the condition under control through treatment or lifestyle changes.
The report, co-hosted with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Resolve to Save Lives, highlighted wide gaps in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
It identified barriers such as weak health promotion policies on alcohol, tobacco, diet, and physical inactivity, limited access to validated blood pressure devices, and a shortage of trained primary care teams.
Dr. Kelly Henning of Bloomberg Philanthropies noted that countries integrating hypertension care into universal health coverage are recording real progress, but stressed that millions remain left behind.
WHO emphasized that hypertension is a leading cause of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and dementia conditions that are preventable and treatable.
Without urgent global action, it warned, millions will continue to die prematurely while economies bear the burden of escalating healthcare costs.
Written by Gladys Haruna