Blood pressure is the amount of force (pressure) that blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels as the heart pumps blood through the body, even if against direction of gravity. There are two types of numbers that make up a blood-pressure reading, e.g. 80\130 mm Hg. The top number refers to systolic blood pressure (while the heart is beating), and the bottom number measures the diastolic blood pressure (while the heart is at rest). The incidence of hypertension varies from one community to another. Estimates show that over 7 million people die out of hyper tension every year, whereas some 1.5 billion people suffer from the disease.
The World Hypertension Day is celebrated every year on May 17th, with the aim to find out the number of cases, and reduce the incidence of arterial hypertension amidst people. According to the National Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on a random sample (form 15 to 64 years), hypertension increased by 21.1% (24.1% in males, and 18.3% in females).
Internationally Approved Date: 17/5/2012
Locally Approved Date: 26/6/1433H
Theme:
“Healthy Lifestyle – Healthy Blood Pressure”
Targeted Groups:
- Hypertension patients.
- Patients' families.
- Health workers (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and health educationists).
- Education workers (teachers, social workers, etc.).
- Health decision-makers.
- Health associations, societies and institutions.
- The public.
Objectives and General Message:
- Raising people's awareness of how to avoid hypertension and measure blood pressure.
- The importance of adopting healthy lifestyles.
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