World Health Day 2013
World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the
anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is
selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of public health
concern in the world.
The theme
for 2013 is high blood pressure.
Hypertension or high blood pressure is estimated to
cause 7.5 million deaths, about 12.8% of the total of all deaths. This accounts
for 57 million disability adjusted life years (DALYS) or 3.7% of total DALYS.
One in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure. The proportion increases
with age, from 1 in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their
50s. It increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure
and much other associated comorbidity. Treating raised blood pressure and
maintaining it below 140/90 mmHg is associated with a reduction in
cardiovascular complications.
WHO Country Office for India is utilizing
this opportunity to explore and identify how the health system can be
strengthened across the continuum of care, to address hypertension and
associated comorbidities with
other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and with communicable diseases
(CDs). Due attention would be given to issues including a primary health care
approach; improved diagnostic capacity; access to essential medicines; capacity
building of staff; strengthening the Health Information System to capture data
on NCDs and associated comorbidities; engaging the private and
voluntary sectors to address hypertension, and linkages to both, the coverage
and financial protection aspects of universal health coverage.
General and specific
objectives
The goal of World Health Day 2013 is to reduce heart
attacks and strokes. Specific objectives of the campaign are to:
· Raise
awareness of the causes and consequences of high blood pressure;
· Encourage
people to change behaviours that can lead to hypertension;
· Persuade
adults to have their blood pressure checked regularly;
· Increase
the number of health facilities offering blood pressure checks; and
· Encourage
national and local authorities to create enabling environments for healthy
behaviours.
The WHD 2013 events in India are aimed at
raising the awareness amongst national policymakers, programme managers and
other stakeholders on the need to strengthen the Indian health system to
respond to hypertension and related comorbidities, keeping in line with
the WHO-Government of India Country Cooperation Strategy.
Key messages of World
Health Day 2013
The problem
High blood pressure (also known
as raised blood pressure or hypertension) can lead to heart attack, stroke and
other serious health problems.
It affects more than one in
three adults and leads to more than nine million deaths worldwide every year.
High blood pressure can also
cause kidney failure, blindness, rupture of blood vessels and brain impairment.
Many people do not know that
they have high blood pressure because it does not always cause symptoms.
Even though it is easily
diagnosed and treated, many people do not have access to basic health services,
particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
The solution
Controlling high blood
pressure, together with other risk factors, is the main way to prevent heart
attack and stroke.
Early detection is key; all
adults should know their blood pressure.
The risk of developing high
blood pressure can be minimized by: cutting down on salt; eating a balanced diet; avoiding harmful use of
alcohol; getting regular exercise; and avoiding tobacco use.
For many people, lifestyle
changes are sufficient to control blood pressure. For others, medication is
required. Inexpensive medication exists, which is effective when taken as
prescribed.
It is essential that detection
and control of high blood pressure (measurement, health advice and treatment),
are coupled with simultaneous reduction of other risk factors that cause heart
attacks and strokes, such as diabetes and tobacco use. They should be core
elements of primary health care in all countries, and integral to efforts to
reduce the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases.
Civil society has an important
role to play in helping to address high blood pressure.
Industry can contribute to the
solution, for example, by reducing salt in processed food and making essential
diagnostics and medicines more affordable.
Source: http://whoindia.org/en/Section210/Section267/Section462.htm
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