High blood pressure in Sub-Saharan Africa: why prevention, detection, and control are urgent and important

Abstract

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (BP) IS THE LEADING RISK FOR DEATH AND DISABILITY GLOBALLY ACCORDING TO THE 2010 GLOBAL BURDEN OF DISEASE STUDY "In 2010, hypertension in Sub–Saharan Africa was the leading risk for death, increasing by 67% since 1990. Hypertension was estimated to cause more than 500,000 deaths and 10 million years of life lost in 2010 in Sub–Saharan Africa. It was also the sixth leading risk for disability (contributing to more than 11 million disability–adjusted life years).3 In Sub–Saharan Africa, stroke, the major clinical outcome of uncontrolled hypertension, has increased 46% since 1990 to become the fifth leading risk for death.