Da Nang campaign to relieve hypertension

DA NANG — The ‘Know Your Number' campaign, which aims to address the high rates of undiagnosed hypertension along adult men and women in the over 40 age group, was launched in the central coastal city yesterday.

The campaign, which aims to encourage people to test their blood pressure regularly in a bid to prevent strokes, is held to mark the World Hypertension Day on May 14.

Country director of Population Service International (PSI) Josselyn Neukom said stroke was a leading cause of death among adults in Viet Nam.

"One of the preventable causes of stroke is undetected and untreated hypertension," she said at the campaign launching ceremony yesterday.

"The ‘Know your number' campaign will change the way Vietnamese think about hypertension and their health by motivating them to take action today."

She also said PSI's ‘Good Health, Great Life' franchise in Viet Nam aims to provide hypertension management services to more than 70,000 adults this year.

A survey from the Ha Noi-based Public Health School also revealed that two thirds of Vietnamese people have high blood pressure, but are unaware of their health condition.

In Da Nang, around 450 people out of 1,000 participating in a survey proved to have high blood pressure.

Deputy director of the Da Nang Health Department Tran Thi Hoa Ban said high blood pressure was recognised as a silent killer in the modern world.

"It's also a worrying disease in Viet Nam due to the limited number of people that have annual check-ups," she said.

"In our survey, 52 per cent of people were found to have hypertension when they came for a health check at local health centres."

Coach of Da Nang football team Le Huynh Duc was selected as the campaign's goodwill ambassador.

An event was also organised at the city's March 29 Park to raise awareness about hypertension. The campaign will cover the five provinces and cities of HCM City, Da Nang, Dong Thap, Dong Nai and An Giang. — VNS