The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its second Global Hypertension Report, revealing that 1.4 billion people lived with high blood pressure in 2024, yet only about one in five have it under control through medication or lifestyle interventions. The report highlights that access to hypertension medicines is particularly limited in low-income countries, where only 28% report general availability of all WHO-recommended drugs in pharmacies or primary care facilities. The findings underscore hypertension as a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, chronic kidney disease, and dementia, with significant economic implications—cardiovascular diseases are projected to cost low- and middle-income countries around $3.7 trillion from 2011 to 2025.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the preventable nature of these deaths, noting that over 1,000 lives are lost every hour to strokes and heart attacks linked to uncontrolled high blood pressure. Experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies and Resolve to Save Lives stressed the importance of integrating hypertension care into universal health coverage and primary care systems, while raising awareness and expanding access to treatment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries that remain behind.
The report identifies persistent barriers to effective hypertension control, including weak health promotion policies, limited access to validated blood pressure devices, inadequate training for primary care teams, inconsistent supply chains, high medication costs, and insufficient health information systems. It also emphasizes that access to affordable blood pressure medication is a cornerstone of progress, noting a stark disparity between high-income countries—where 93% report availability of all WHO-recommended medicines—and low-income countries, at just 28%.
Despite these challenges, some countries have achieved notable success by integrating hypertension management into national health systems. Bangladesh increased hypertension control from 15% to 56% in some regions between 2019 and 2025 through comprehensive primary care services. The Philippines has implemented the WHO HEARTS technical package at the community level, while South Korea’s reforms, including low-cost medications and minimized patient fees, achieved a national blood pressure control rate of 59% in 2022.
WHO calls on all countries to embed hypertension control into universal health coverage reforms. The report highlights that implementing recommended measures can prevent millions of premature deaths and reduce the social and economic burden of uncontrolled high blood pressure. Clinical hypertension in adults is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg, though elevated blood pressure below these thresholds still carries increased health risks.
The report was released at an event co-hosted by WHO, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Resolve to Save Lives during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, with Bloomberg Philanthropies funding the study. It emphasizes the urgent need for global action to expand access to medicines, improve monitoring and treatment systems, and embed hypertension care in primary health services worldwide.
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