Heart disease accounts for around 34% of all deaths in Bangladesh, speakers have said.
The remark was made at a webinar titled “Health Budget to Address Hypertension and Heart Disease Risk Among Young People: Bangladesh Perspective,” organised by research and advocacy organisation PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), to mark World Heart Day on Monday.
The speakers called for a significant share of the expanded health budget to be allocated to hypertension control to reduce premature deaths.
Speakers said around 6.5 million people die prematurely from heart disease worldwide every year, with hypertension being one of its leading causes.
In 2024, an estimated 283,800 people died from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh, with hypertension contributing to 52% of those deaths. According to the Bangladesh NCD STEPS Survey 2018, around 12% of people aged 18–39 have hypertension.
Professor Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury, head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, said the increase in the health sector budget from 5.3% to 7.4% in the current fiscal year is commendable.
He said directing a notable portion of the additional allocation towards anti-hypertensive medicines could effectively reduce the risk of hypertension-related heart disease in the country.
Sajjadur Rahman, deputy editor of The Business Standard, said extensive campaigns across mass and social media platforms are needed to raise awareness among young people about the risks of heart disease.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh country lead at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, said non-communicable diseases account for 71% of all deaths in the country, yet only 4.2% of the health budget is allocated to the sector.
He said funding must be increased to control hypertension and other non-communicable diseases.
The webinar was chaired by ABM Zubair, executive director of PROGGA, and moderated by Samiha Bintay Kamal, programme officer at PROGGA.
Discussants included S M Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), and Aminul Islam Sujan, consultant at Vital Strategies. Representatives from the Bangladesh Medical Students’ Society and Platform Doctors Foundation also attended the webinar.