Announcements: National Hypertension Day — October 8, 2020

Hypertension, or elevated blood pressure, is a serious medical condition that significantly increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and blindness and is one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide (1). In order to spread information and increase awareness of hypertension, the World Health Organization (WHO) along with the International Hearts Initiative has marked May 17 of every year starting in 1978 as “World Hypertension Day” (2). This year’s theme is “Measure Your Blood Pressure, Control It, and Live Longer.”

Since 1998, China’s National Ministry of Health (now the National Health Commission) has designated October 8 of each year as “National Hypertension Day,” which aims to raise public awareness of the disease, focus attention on hypertension prevention and control from governments at all levels, various departments, and different sectors of the society, and also mobilize the entire society to work together on the issue. The theme of this year is “All Persons 18 Years Old and Above Should Know Their Blood Pressure”