Medical staff member checks blood pressure for people in Long An Province. — Photo baolongan.vn

HCM CITY — Health experts exchanged expertise and experience in an effort to improve the hypertension management programme at a conference on May 22 in HCM City.

The conference was a collaboration between Novartis Vietnam and FPT Long Châu Pharmacy chain with support from the Vietnam Hypertension Association and the Vietnam National Heart Association, aiming at raising public awareness of hypertension.

The event provided medical knowledge regarding diagnosis and hypertension, beginning a series of meaningful activities on World Hypertension Day and the MMM 2024 (May Month Measurement 2024) Community Hypertension Screening and Management Programme.

The conference is also an opportunity to concretise Novartis' efforts in improving community health and enhancing the counselling capacity of pharmacists, jointly working with pharmacy chain partners to be ready to join the Community Hypertension Control Programme according to International Society of Hypertension standards.

For the first time, the programme has collaborated with the FPT Long Châu pharmacy chain system to provide free international-standard blood pressure measurement to the public. After measurement sessions, specialist doctors will not only provide counselling and healthcare advice but also give detailed instructions to participants on how to measure their blood pressure at home. This initiative helps foster proactive daily health care, contributes to the management and reduction of hypertension risks, and aims to improve the quality of life and health of the Vietnamese community.

Speaking about the importance of pharmacists in advising patients with hypertension, Prof. Dr. Huỳnh Văn Minh, President of the Vietnam National Heart Association, said: "Hypertension is a very common issue within the Vietnamese community, and each of us can be a candidate for this problem. Although it is not an infectious disease, the complications associated with organ damage caused by hypertension, such as brain stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arrhythmias, and visual impairment, should not be ignored. Besides the role of doctors, pharmacists are currently being recognized and play a significant collaborative role in helping people enhance their awareness and ensure adherence to the best treatment, contributing to the protection, care, and improvement of community health."

Delegates cut the ribbon to launch the MMM 2024 Community Hypertension Screening and Management Programme on May 22. — Photo courtesy of the organiser

During the conference, experts practised measuring and recording ISH standard blood pressure and counselling hypertensive patients. This activity served as both support and specialised training for the FPT Long Châu pharmacist team to enhance their expertise and professionalism in the process of examining and counselling hypertensive patients. This creates more opportunities for people nationwide to undergo screening and management for hypertension, thereby avoiding potential risks of the disease.

Hypertension is becoming increasingly common worldwide, including in Việt Nam. Anyone is at risk of hypertension, including children and young adults. According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide have hypertension, and it is responsible for an estimated 9.4 million deaths each year.

In Việt Nam, there are about 12 million people with hypertension, with a ratio of one in five adults being affected. Of these, there is a relatively high proportion of patients who have not been diagnosed with the disease or have been diagnosed but have not yet controlled it. — VNS