Several medical trade groups kicked off a national charity program last week to help people diagnose high blood pressure.
On Oct 29, several medical associations and domestic medical-device manufacturers, including the Chinese Hypertension League, Beijing Hypertension Association and Zheng'an Medical, launched the program to establish more than 1,000 monitoring stations in residential communities throughout China, to offer free checkups for high blood pressure as well as consultation to about 1 million people.
About 3.5 million Chinese die of cardiovascular disease each year, representing 41 percent of the total annual deaths in China. High blood pressure is among the top risk factors of cardiovascular disease, according to statistics from the Chinese Hypertension League.
However, among the 270 million Chinese people suffering from high blood pressure, only 46 percent are aware of it, and only 41 percent seek medical treatment. Only 14 percent get the disease under control, according to the association.
The program also aims to increase people's awareness of the health threat from high blood pressure, said Wang Wen, vice-president with the association.
