Hypertension is creating a critical public health gap in Greece, with 3 million people affected, one in three undiagnosed, and only one in three achieving adequate blood pressure control through treatment, according to the Hellenic Society of Hypertension.
Marking World Hypertension Day on May 17, experts called the condition a “silent killer” because it typically produces no symptoms until serious complications emerge. Globally, 1.6 billion people live with hypertension, which accounts for one in six deaths, half of all cardiovascular fatalities, and 60% of stroke deaths.
Professor Konstantinos Tsioufis of the University of Athens warned that risk rises sharply with age – from 2-3% at age 30 to 60% by 65 – with obesity, salt intake, physical inactivity, alcohol, and maternal heredity as key contributing factors.
Greece’s “May Measurement Month” program will screen over 10,000 people across 24 cities. Health authorities are also moving to incorporate hypertension into the national “I Prevent” screening program.
