The May Measurement Month project, a global blood pressure awareness campaign, as well as the "#BecauseIsayso" charity activity have been launched to mark the World Hypertension Day.

The project is co-hosted by the International Society of Hypertension (ISH), the World Hypertension League and the Lancet Hypertension Council.

The "#BecauseIsayso" charity activity is co-sponsored by China Hypertension League and Shanghai Institute of Hypertension led by Wang Jiguang, chairman of China Hypertension League, and strongly supported by Servier China.

Wu Jing, head of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "The project sets an excellent example of building a disease control platform with the full commitment of companies with social responsibilities, which can carry out comprehensive education on disease prevention, and promote a healthy lifestyle for the public not only in the field of hypertension, but also in a wider range of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer."

As one of the most common major chronic diseases in the world, hypertension is the "silent killer" among cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It not only has high disability and mortality rate, but also puts a severe strain on limited medical resources, which places a heavy burden on families and society. 

In China, the prevalence of hypertension is 23.2% and the affected age group is gradually becoming younger. It is estimated that the number of patients has reached 270 million.

On average, one out of every four people suffers from high blood pressure. However, the awareness rate and treatment rate of hypertension in China and the control rate is still at a low level.

Wang Jiguang, director of the Shanghai Institute of Hypertension, said: “Inadequate awareness of hypertension and poor medication compliance have become an important factor affecting the treatment rate and control rate of hypertension. Therefore, the knowledge of hypertension has yet to be popularized, and the management of hypertension still has a long way to go."