TEHRAN – Blood pressure information of over 16 million Iranians have been so far registered during the national campaign for controlling hypertension, deputy health minister Mohammad Shariati announced, ISNA reported on Monday.

The campaign, which began on May 17, World Hypertension Day, focuses on the issue as one of the most important causes of cardiovascular disease, which is the main reason for 40 percent of deaths in Iran.

During the campaign, which continues until July 6, people are notified about the campaign, its subject and targets and from June 6 to July 6 the field works are carried out such as taking the blood pressure of target groups, registering their information and referring the patients to physicians.

Over 40 million of Iran’s population is older than 30 years old and is the target population in addition to pregnant women and those with kidney diseases.

The campaign is underway in 18,000 local health centers, 6,700 health service departments, 240 clinics and 1002 hospitals nationwide and it is predicted that at least 2461 stations in different parts of cities observe blood pressure of citizens during the campaign.

“We have registered the blood pressure with three methods; people can submit their information on their blood pressure at the health ministry’s comprehensive network, entitled SIB, Persian acronym for ‘Integrated Health System’. They can also go to blood pressure measuring stations in hospitals, clinics and health centers,” he said.

Up to now, about 350,000 Iranians have submitted their blood pressure information to the health ministry’s SIB, he said.

Over 13,000 blood pressure measuring stations have been established nationwide, where information of about four million people are registered.

The information of 12 million Iranians have been registered in hospitals and health centers.

“Unfortunately about 9.5 percent of those who were examined in blood pressure measuring stations and hospitals had systolic blood pressure greater than 14 and diastolic blood pressure greater than 9,” he lamented.

It means that 10 percent of people suffer from hypertension while they are not aware of their disease.

Besides, 40 percent of those people who are aware of their hypertension have high blood pressure while checking in stations and hospitals.

“This indicates that their medical treatment and lifestyle are not effective,” he said.

The high blood pressure of citizens are registered on their Electronic Health Record for further treatments, he said.

100,000 Iranians die of high blood pressure annually

In mid-May, the Health Ministry’s director for non-communicable diseases Afshin Ostovar announced that About 100,000 Iranians die of high blood pressure annually.

One third of Iranian population above 30 suffer from hypertension and during past 25 years, the number of Iranians suffering from hypertension has increased by three-fold in Iran.

Some 97,000 Iranians died of diseases caused by hypertension in 2017, according to Dr. Ramin Heshmat, who is an associate professor of epidemiology at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

World Health Organization (WHO) has set a target for a 25% relative reduction in the prevalence of raised blood pressure by 2025.

SB/MQ/MG