Canadian efforts to prevent and control hypertension

Suboptimum blood pressure is estimated to be the leading risk factor for death worldwide and is associated with 13.5% of deaths globally. The clinical diagnosis of hypertension affects one in four adults globally and is expected to increase by 60% between 2000 and 2025. Clearly, global efforts to prevent and control hypertension are important health issues. While Canada had a prevalence of hypertension similar to that of the United States in the early 1990s, the treatment and control rate was only 13% compared with 25% in the United States. A national strategic plan was developed, and a coalition of organizations and health care professional and scientist volunteers actively implemented parts of the strategy. Specific initiatives that have evolved include the development of hypertension knowledge translation programs for health professionals, the public and people with hypertension, an outcomes research program to assess the impact of hypertension and guide national-, regional- and community-based knowledge translation interventions, and a program to reduce the prevalence of hypertension by decreasing sodium additives in food. These initiatives have relied on the active involvement of health care professional volunteers, health care professional and scientific organizations and various government departments. There have been large increases in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, with corresponding reductions in cardiovascular disease and total mortality associated with the start of the hypertension initiatives. As a result, Canada is becoming recognized as a world leader in the prevention, treatment and control of hypertension.