May 16, 2021:  World Hypertension Day, observed on 17 May every year under the theme 'Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer', is an important occasion to ramp up global efforts being made to increase high blood pressure (BP) awareness in all populations around the world and to highlight its symptoms and the importance of prevention and early detection to curb the complications and hazards of high blood pressure which is often called 'the silent killer'.

The UAE is considered a world leader in providing outstanding health services to high blood pressure patients, by shifting focus from treatment to prevention and listing the blood pressure disease in the health indicators of the National Agenda 2021 and the National Strategy for Combating Non-Communicable Diseases.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), over the past three years, as part of its plan to provide world-class and scientific evidence-based healthcare services, has opened non-communicable disease clinics to help hypertension patients know and control their disease, resulting in raising the blood pressure control rate to 78%.

In 2019, MoHAP has launched the 4th updated version of the Hypertension Guideline to build the capacity of healthcare providers and deliver the best preventive and therapeutic services for patients with hypertension. The guideline includes health tips for patients to maintain a healthy lifestyle, exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, reduce salt intake, and quit smoking.

According to MoHAP's National Health Survey 2017 -2018, the high blood pressure rate was 28,8%. In the meantime, the Ministry, in partnership with the concerned parties, has developed a national plan to reduce this rate to 21.8% by 2025, by intensifying outreach campaigns, encouraging community members to conduct regular screening, and working with competent authorities to enact legislation to reduce the consumption of salt and saturated fat.

In 2018 and 2019, MoHAP, together with its strategic partners and the Heart Association, has launched a blood pressure early screening drive as part of a global campaign, during which 32500 adults, among them 20% with high blood pressure disease, were examined, which led the UAE to come first globally in blood pressure screening for adults and 9th globally for all age groups.