More than half of people with hypertension go untreated, WHO says

More than half of the people with hypertension worldwide, or 720 million, are not taking treatment. This exposes them to serious cardiovascular problems, according to a study funded by the World Health Organization. "Hypertension significantly increases the risk of heart, brain and kidney disease, and is one of the leading causes of death and disease worldwide," the organization said in a statement Wednesday. For researchers, more than 8.5 million deaths worldwide each year are directly linked to high blood pressure. Acting on this parameter could reduce the number of heart attacks by 20 to 25% and the number of strokes by 35 to 40%, they believe. Conducted by Imperial College London, the study shows that the number of people with hypertension worldwide has doubled in thirty years, from 650 million in 1990 to 1.28 billion in 2019. This increase in absolute value is, however, linked to the increase in the world population and its aging: in proportion, the proportion of people with hypertension has changed little in 30 years (about a third of the world's adult population).

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