Nearly 23% of the urban population in four city corporations of Bangladesh suffers from hypertension, according to a recent study.
The findings were unveiled at an event titled “Strengthening Urban Public Health System Project” conducted by Save the Children in Bangladesh and South Asia Field Epidemiology and Technology Network (Safetynet), Bangladesh, with assistance from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.
The four cities are Narayanganj, Comilla, Mymensingh and Rangpur. Among them, Rangpur has the highest rate at 34% and Comilla the lowest.
According to the study, the prevalence of hypertension is higher among men (24%) than women (22%). Meanwhile, about 14% of people are at higher risk of becoming hypertensive.
On the other hand, the rate of people at risk of having high blood pressure is highest in Comilla at 23% and lowest in Mymensingh at 6%.
The study shows that people who take more salt in food or have a family history of hypertension have high blood pressure.
At the same time, 36% of people are at risk of obesity.
A total of 48,644 participants were screened to measure their blood pressure, height and weight to calculate hypertension status and BMI status for the study.
Among the participants, the prevalence of obesity is 8%, while almost 28% of participants are overweight. The prevalence of obesity was higher in female participants (10%) compared to male participants (7%).
The Strengthening Urban Public Health System Project is being implemented in 12 city corporations of the country with an aim to enhance the capacity of the city corporation’s health force so that they can make strong public health decisions and prioritize public health issues.
Through this project, a new cadre of ‘Public Health Epidemiologist’ has also been introduced into the city corporation health department as a first step in addressing an unmet public health leadership need.
The study recommended that community-based screening should be carried out for early detection of hypertension and obesity status, and it should be scaled up in other city corporations, even in rural areas as well.