One in every eight persons above 30 in India suffers from high blood pressure, according to a preventive health programme of Union Health Ministry, which aims to monitor common non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This is indicative of the immense pressure people to go through every day in their lives.
This has significantly increased from the 2015-16 National Family Health Survey data which showed that one in every 11 persons had high blood pressure. According to the NFHS 2015-16 round, 8.6 per cent of the Indian population suffer from hypertension. Generally, men (10.4 per cent) tend to suffer from hypertension more than women (6.7per cent).
The health ministry in India considers it high blood pressure if the reading is over 140/90 mmHg (Millimeter of mercury) ; which is 10 mmHg higher than the globally-accepted reading.
What is also of major concern is that the survey was mainly conducted at primary health centres and sub-centres in rural areas across 100 districts in India, which busts the myth that hypertension affects urban people more than the rural population. People living in rural areas are hardly aware of complications including heart diseases caused by hypertension.
The programme aims to include 500 million people across the country and by 2025, the national action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs aims to reduce hypertension including death caused by heart diseases, by 25 per cent. It also aims to reduce salt/sodium intake by 30 per cent within 2025.