Hypertension or raised blood pressure is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases worldwide. It is therefore not surprising that the non-Latin Caribbean has the highest mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease, accounting for 418 per 100,000 population.
CARPHA Executive Director, Dr. Joy St. John says, “The Caribbean region has the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure in the Americas ranging from a high of 27.1% to a low of 20.9%”. She adds, “It is a cause for concern and action when in all Caribbean countries, hypertension is above the regional average for the Americas”.
CARPHA is therefore calling on governments, civil society, private sector, academia, community-based organisations, and faith-based organisations to take a whole of society approach and work together to reduce the prevalence of hypertension by 25% by 2025 and premature mortality by a third by 2030. (Caribbean Public Health Agency Press Release)
