SEAHEARTS webinar: Achieving population level hypertension control in WHO South-East Asia region

5 – 21 May 2025


Background: Hypertension poses a significant health challenge in the WHO South-East Asia Region. High systolic blood pressure attributed to around 2.4 million deaths in 2021 in the region, accounting for half of all deaths due to cardiovascular diseases. It is estimated that more than 294 million individuals aged 30 and above have high blood pressure in the Region. Alarmingly, almost half of those with high blood pressure are unaware of their condition, and less than 14%, have their conditions under control.

As part of the commitment to resolution SEAHEARTS: Accelerating Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases in the South-East Asia Region (SEA/RC76/R5),  countries have set-up national targets to improve the hypertension coverage and are implementing interventions aligned to WHO HEARTS technical package in the primary health care. Each country is in different stage of progress, and several shared challenges persists. World Hypertension Day serves as a vital platform to unite stakeholders across sectors to reflect on progress and explore solutions to the challenges of hypertension prevention and control. To mark this occasion, the Department of Healthier Population and Noncommunicable Diseases (HPN) at the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office is organizing a public webinar. The event will focus on sharing practical approaches to scale up hypertension treatment coverage and improve control across the region.

Event details:

  • Date  21 May 2025 (Wednesday)
  • Time 11:00 HRS – 12:45 HRS   (Indian Standard Time)
  • Language : English

Tentative programme:

Time (IST) Agenda item
11:00 am - 11:05 am Welcome remarks
11:05 am - 11:10 am Voice from the people living with hypertension
Parsa Municipality, Nepal 
11:10 am - 11:20 am SEAHEARTS milestones achievements and what next
Department of Healthier Population and NCDs, WHO South-East Asia Regional Office
11:20 am - 11:35 am Drug quantification- practice in the field
State NCD Cell, Andhra Pradesh, India
11:35 am - 11:50 am Improving accessibility of validated blood pressure monitors
Resolve to Save Lives, New York
11:50 am - 12:05 pm Effectiveness of home-based self-monitoring of blood pressure in a primary care
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
12:05 pm - 12:20 pm Implementation research- improving hypertension control rates 
WHO Collaborating Centre on Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases  in Primary Care, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
12:20 pm - 12:45 pm Open forum for discussion and reflection