Hypertension affecting 36% of UAE population
Ministry says health care system under threat amid forecasts of cases of cardiovascular diseases tripling in three years
Dubai: The number of cases involving cardiovascular diseases will multiply three-fold in the region within the next three years, a doctor has revealed.
This is expected to pile pressure on the health care system, the doctor said as the Ministry of Health launched guidelines for doctors on the treatment and management of hypertension.
Dr Mahmoud Fikri, chief executive of health policies in the Ministry of Health, said an estimated 36 per cent of the population in the UAE suffer from hypertension.
He said that worked out to be roughly one in every three people — the same rate as in developed nations such as the United States and most European nations.
Dr Fikri said hypertension was a "silent killer" and that early detection of the disease was of paramount importance.
He said the ministry's guidelines were a "road map" for all physicians, before adding that the treatment and management of diseases would soon be standardised.
At risk: Victims of silent killer
- 3.1 per cent of deaths in the UAE are a result of cardiovascular diseases.
- More UAE women than men are prone to hypertension
- 36.6 per cent of the population suffer from hypertension.
- Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disorder with associated diseases such as diabetes.
