Two national surveys found that between 25 to 28 percent of Sri Lankans suffer from hypertension, Senior Professor at the Pharmacology Department of the Kelaniya University and National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) Chairman Prof. Asita De Silva said.
Some 16 to 18 percent of Sri Lankans have diabetes and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a serious challenge to the country, Prof. De Silva said.
He was addressing the Policy Forum on Hypertension and Cardio-Metabolic Diseases in Colombo yesterday.
Prof. De Silva said that according to statistics, about one in every three or four Sri Lankans suffers from hypertension. The Control of Blood Pressure and Risk Attenuation (COBRA) BPS trial conducted in rural Sri Lanka found that 80 percent of 850 participants had hypertension at the commencement of the trial.
Most of them were educated, rich and fat (obese or overweight) women belonging to farming communities. Less the five percent were smokers, but a higher percentage had NCDs such as diabetes and kidney diseases. They had free access to medication, but 66 percent had poorly controlled hypertension, he added.
Add new comment