Hailing the government’s landmark decision to add hypertension medicine to the community clinic's drug list, speakers have said that speedy implementation of this decision is essential to effectively control the growing prevalence and deaths from hypertension-related non-communicable diseases nationwide.
At the same time, necessary budget must be allocated to ensure an uninterrupted supply of the medicine at community clinics and upazila health complexes, they emphasized at a workshop for journalists on Monday.
The workshop, titled “Hypertension Control in Bangladesh”, was held at the capital’s BMA Bhaban.
The workshop, organized by research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), saw the participation of 24 journalists from print, television, and online media.
The workshop shared that one out of every four adults in Bangladesh has hypertension.
The WHO’s first “Global Report on Hypertension 2023” indicates that only 38% of those with hypertension receive treatment.
The report also states that 273,000 people in Bangladesh died from cardiovascular disease in 2019, with 54% of these deaths linked to hypertension.
The WHO report notes that 4 out of every 5 people with hypertension do not receive adequate treatment. Yet, by enhancing treatment facilities, up to 75 million deaths could be prevented by 2050.
Md Zakir Hossain, deputy general manager (Sales and Marketing) of Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL), announced that the community clinics would start providing hypertension medicine in the next fiscal year.
Dr Malay Kanti Mridha, professor and director of the Center for Non-Communicable Disease and Nutrition at Brac James P Grant School of Public Health, emphasized the importance of incorporating dietary and lifestyle changes to manage hypertension effectively.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh country lead of GHAI, Reaz Ahmad, executive editor of Dhaka Tribune and ABM Zubair, executive director of PROGGA were also present at the event as discussants.
