One-fifth of Vietnam’s population will suffer from cardiovascular diseases and hypertension by 2017, the Vietnamese Cardiovascular Association warned, citing a report from the World Cardiovascular Association.

>> 30% Vietnamese adults suffer from hypertension: heart institute >> Child with world’s rare heart disease treated successfully The warning was released at a press conference held in the central city of Da Nang on Thursday to provide information related to the 14th National Cardiovascular Conference that is aimed at boosting the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension. Cardiovascular disease has become a burden on society as it is among the leading causes of mortality in Vietnam and the world in general, experts said the conference. The World Heart Federation (WHF) forecast that up to 20 percent of Vietnam’s population will suffer heath problems caused by cardiovascular diseases and hypertension by 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 17.5 million people die of cardiovascular-related diseases every year in the world and the number is on the rise. Cardiovascular diseases include hypertension, heart failure, stroke and myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, and atherosclerosis.

Cost of treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases worldwide amounts to hundreds of billions of US dollars per year.25% of people aged 25 or more suffer from hypertension According to the WHF, hypertension has affected more people in the working age in recent years. The rate of Vietnamese people aged 25 or higher with hypertension is 25.1 percent, experts said at the conference, WHF said. According to a WHO estimate, the world has about 1.5 billion people with hypertension and some 7.5 million people die of hypertension-related diseases each year all over the world.  Hypertension is “the No. 1 killer” in the world as it has a mortality risk five times higher than that of smoking and 100 times higher than that of car accidents, WHO says. According to Dr. Do Doan Loi, deputy director of Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital and head of the Vietnam National Heart Institute, the number of people with hypertension in Vietnam has increased rapidly. In 1960, only 1 percent of the Vietnamese population suffered from hypertension, but the figure soared to 8-9 percent in 1990 and to 25.5 percent in 2008. Presently, about 10 million people aged 25-64 have high blood pressure, accounting for about 30 percent of Vietnamese adults, Dr. Loi said. A large number of young people are suffering from hypertension as a consequence of abusing alcohol and beer, living a stressful life, and following a diet with too much meat and fat and not enough green vegetables and ripe fruits.

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