About 12 per cent of Bangladeshis aged 18 to 39 have high blood pressure, and heart-disease risk is climbing among young people. Experts at a webinar held by the research and advocacy group PROGGA on Monday, 28 September, ahead of World Heart Day, called for a bigger health budget with a large share spent on controlling hypertension.

The webinar, supported by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), heard that heart disease causes about 34 per cent of all deaths in Bangladesh. In 2024 some 283,800 people died of heart-related illness, and 52 per cent of those deaths were linked to high blood pressure. The figure for young adults comes from the Bangladesh NCD STEPS Survey 2018.

Professor Sohel Reza Choudhury, head of epidemiology and research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, said health's share of the current budget has risen from 5.3 to 7.4 per cent. Spending a significant part of the increase on blood-pressure medicines, he said, would help cut hypertension-related heart disease.

Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, GHAI's Bangladesh country lead, said non-communicable diseases cause 71 per cent of deaths but receive only 4.2 per cent of the health budget. Dr Md Maruf Haque Khan, assistant professor of public health and informatics at Bangladesh Medical University, stressed awareness of healthy diets and lifestyles.

Sajjadur Rahman, deputy editor of The Business Standard, urged wide campaigns in the media and on social media to reach young people. CAB vice-president S M Nazer Hossain and Vital Strategies consultant Aminul Islam Sujon also spoke, with PROGGA executive director ABM Zubair in the chair.

This year's World Heart Day theme is 'Heart disease can hide in plain sight: don't miss a beat'. Because high blood pressure often has no symptoms, speakers said regular checks and control should start young.

Source: Samakal