This year the founding anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) is commemorated with World Health Day 2013 that is celebrated worldwide today, April 7, 2013. The WHO was founded 65 years ago on April 7, 1948 and is headquartered at Geneva in Switzerland. It is an agency of the United Nations that is dedicated to the control and prevention of diseases that affect humankind.
Every year the WHO chooses a theme that serves to highlight a particular priority health issue and this year the theme is high blood pressure. According to the most recent reports, one in three adults in the world has high blood pressure or hypertension.
Preventable and treatable
Persons suffering from high blood pressure or hypertension do not only have increased risk of stroke, kidney failure and heart attack but hypertensives are also prone to problems with irregular heart rate and even blindness. Hypertension leads to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide but health practitioners say that many people are still mostly unaware of the nature of this silent global killer.
The deaths caused by high blood pressure are not necessarily due to lack of treatment options because this medical condition is treatable and preventable as well. The risks may be reduced with lifestyle modification and people with hypertension can lead happy and productive lives given proper diagnosis and intervention.
World Health Day 2013
The main objectives of World Health Day 2013 include increasing public awareness on the complications and causes of hypertension and improving health behaviors of people especially those who are at high risk. The WHO hopes to eventually achieve its ultimate goal which is to reduce the risk for strokes and heart attacks.
This year the World Health Organization has made available a video illustrating the medical issues surrounding hypertension. The video may be accessed by anyone in the world. This campaign aims to inform people and make them realize what hypertension does to the body and how people can make choices that improves their chances at overcoming it.
Overwhelming challenges
Hypertension is a health issue that poses many challenges to the medical community, first and foremost of which is diagnosis of the condition. There are also many factors that hinder access of the general public to services that decreases the risk for developing hypertension.
One of the objectives of this year’s World Health Day celebration is to increase awareness on hypertension particularly in Asia and Africa where the prevalence is higher than in other parts of the world. The WHO intends to empower the public on preventing high blood pressure and decreasing the risk of complications. Its campaign is also focused on teaching adults to develop the habit of checking their own blood pressure and to be more compliant with the recommendations of their doctors.
Lifestyle modification
Hypertension is managed best with changes in a person’s lifestyle. The risks of developing hypertension as one advances in age is reduced by eating a well-balanced diet, engaging in regular physical exercise, and avoiding the following: cigarette/tobacco use, alcohol, and too much salt in the diet.
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