India's hypertension control initiative

Tags: National News

A project called the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) found that out of 2.1 million Indians, about 23% have uncontrolled blood pressure.

• About Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) 

• Hypertension is a serious, and growing, health issue in India.

• Keeping this fact in mind, the Ministry of Health, Indian Council of Medical Research, State Governments and WHO-India launched a five-year initiative for monitoring and treatment of hypertension.

• The programme was launched in November 2017.

• In the first year, 26 districts of five states - Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra were covered under IHCI.

• By December 2020, IHCI was expanded to 52 districts across ten States — Andhra Pradesh (1), Chhattisgarh (2), Karnataka (2), Kerala (4), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (13), Punjab (5), Tamil Nadu (1), Telangana (13) and West Bengal (5).

• What is Hypertension?

• High blood pressure (hypertension) is a common condition in which the blood pressure on the artery walls is high, which can lead to a condition such as a heart attack.

• Hypertension is defined as having systolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.

• Need of IHCI

• India is committed to reduce premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.

• One of the nine voluntary targets includes reducing the prevalence of high blood pressure by 25% by 2025.