Fighting high blood pressure – the silent killer

Oct 11, 2016

Fighting high blood pressure – the silent killer

World Heart Day 2016

Novartis Foundation Heart disease is the deadliest chronic disease in the world. Rapid urbanization in low- and middle-income countries is a contributing factor – migration from rural to urban areas is associated with increased blood pressure, the leading cause of heart disease. Healthcare services in these growing cities are struggling, and are swamped with ongoing challenges like infectious diseases. They have limited time or resources to tackle chronic diseases like high blood pressure, which are often without symptoms early on, yet can cause long-term damage.

In recognition of World Heart Day 2016, the Novartis Foundation is proud to be making progress against hypertension in urban areas with two programs – both of which aim to bring hypertension detection and management closer to patients to improve health outcomes and blood pressure control levels in urban settings in a way that is sustainable at scale.

Gladys for example lives in Oborpah, Ghana with her two young children. Like 1 in 4 adults in Ghana, Gladys suffers from hypertension. But only 4% of these have their blood pressure under control. The Com-HIP project is helping Gladys to receive the care that she needs to stay healthy and manage her condition. Watch her story.