The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its second Global Hypertension Report, revealing that 1.4 billion people worldwide lived with hypertension in 2024, yet just over one in five have their condition under control.
The report, unveiled during a side event at the 80th United Nations General Assembly co-hosted by WHO, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Resolve to Save Lives, underscores the urgent need for stronger action to address the global burden of high blood pressure — a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, chronic kidney disease, and dementia.
Hypertension remains both preventable and treatable, but persistent barriers are leaving millions vulnerable. The report notes that from 2011 to 2025, cardiovascular diseases — including hypertension — are projected to cost low- and middle-income countries about US$3.7 trillion, nearly 2% of their combined GDP.
“Every hour, over 1,000 lives are lost to strokes and heart attacks from high blood pressure, and most of these deaths are preventable,” said WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “With political will, investment, and reforms to embed hypertension control in health services, millions of lives can be saved.”
Dr. Kelly Henning of Bloomberg Philanthropies echoed this call, warning that “uncontrolled high blood pressure claims more than 10 million lives every year, despite being preventable and treatable.”
The report highlights sharp inequities in access to medicines. While 93% of high-income countries report general availability of WHO-recommended blood pressure drugs, only 28% of low-income countries can say the same. Limited health promotion, costly medicines, unreliable supply chains, and weak patient monitoring systems remain major obstacles.
Dr. Tom Frieden, President & CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, stressed that “safe, effective, low-cost medicines to control blood pressure exist, but far too many people can’t get them. Closing that gap will save lives — and billions of dollars every year.”
Despite challenges, some countries show progress. Bangladesh has raised hypertension control rates from 15% to 56% in certain regions, the Philippines has scaled up WHO’s HEARTS technical package nationwide, and South Korea has achieved a 59% control rate through reforms ensuring affordable medicines and patient coverage.
The WHO urges countries to embed hypertension care into universal health coverage reforms, warning that without urgent action, preventable deaths and economic losses will continue to mount.
