Staff Reporter :
Life-saving care for high blood pressure, also known as hypertension-the leading preventable risk factor for heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes-could be expanded nationwide in Bangladesh if minimum US$9 per patient per year is not spent, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.
The study findings were shared during a Meet the Press event titled “Bangladesh Hypertension Control Initiatives” held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Wednesday.
The event was jointly organized by the NCDC Program of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB), Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), and Resolve to Save Lives.
Since 2018, Non-Communicable Disease Control Program (NCDC), Directorate General of Health Services (NCDC DGHS) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB) have collaborated with Resolve to Save Lives, a global health non-profit organization, to implement a program strengthening the detection, treatment and follow-up of high blood pressure in primary care.
Expansion of the highly successful initial project would save lives in Bangladesh by preventing heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and expensive hospitalizations for these conditions, and at an affordable cost.
“In Bangladesh, one out of every five adults has hypertension,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to
Save Lives and former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Many lives can be saved-and heart attacks and strokes prevented-by investing in strengthening primary care services to provide blood pressure treatment to Bangladeshi adults.”
Although most people’s high blood pressure can be controlled with a simple medication regimen, of the estimated 22 million people with high blood pressure in Bangladesh, it is estimated that only 49pc have been diagnosed, 35pc are receiving treatment, and 14pc have their blood pressure under control.
The hypertension control program from NCDC DGHS and NHFB has been successfully implemented in 51upazila health complexes, which offer hypertension care that aligns with the World Health Organizations’ HEARTS technical package. The program has so far registered 100,000 patients for treatment and has controlled blood pressure in 58pc of patients in treatment.
“Thirty percent of deaths in Bangladesh are from heart disease, but less than 5pc of Bangladesh’s health sector budget is allocated to addressing non-communicable diseases,” said National Professor Brig (Rtd.) Abdul Malik, Founder and President of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh.
“The hypertension control program piloted by NCDC, DGHS, and the National Heart Foundation, in collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, is succeeding by incorporating the principles of task-sharing and team-based care,” said Professor Md Robed Amin, Line Director, NCDC of the DGHS.
