Hypertension, commonly called high blood pressure, is considered to be the silent killer since it presents with vague symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony.
The Minister, in his World Hypertension Day message on Monday said that the disease affects an estimated 1.13 billion persons globally, with more than two-thirds living in low- and middle-income countries. He added that men are more affected than women.
“High blood pressure is considered the “silent killer” since it presents with vague symptoms or no symptoms at all. Over time, uncontrolled hypertension commonly leads to chronic kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, dementia and death. Stroke and ischemic heart disease, arising from hypertension, are consistently among the top three causes of death in Guyana,” he explained.
He further explained that fewer than 1 in 5 cases of people with hypertension are well controlled worldwide. According to the Guyana STEPS Survey conducted in 2016, 18.4 per cent of Guyanese who were found to have raised (high) blood pressure were not on medication.
Like other developing countries, Guyana is facing many challenges in identifying and caring for patients with hypertension.
“With the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation’s (PAHO/WHO) support, the Ministry of Health aims to reduce premature death and disability from hypertension and cardiovascular disease and embark on the HEARTS project. HEARTS is the acronym for Healthy lifestyle counselling, Evidence-based protocols, Access to essential medicines and technology, Risk based cardiovascular disease management, Team-based care and Systems for monitoring. HEARTS is fundamentally evidence-based practice in diagnosing and treating arterial hypertension,” Minister Anthony related.
The Health Minister said that regardless of the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work has begun on the HEARTS project in keeping with this Government’s vision to “develop an adequate, well-trained, competent, and compassionate healthcare workforce.”
“Nationwide implementation will standardise the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Medical practitioners will be more equipped with evidence-based knowledge at the community level. It is an ambitious project which will see the review and procurement of more effective medicines to treat hypertension. The screening services offered to the population will be more efficient, allowing for cases to be detected earlier. This will see a lowering of complications and death rates to hypertension. We expect to see significant positive outcomes from this project within two to five years,” he said. (G2)
