Hypertension in developing countries

Kemi Tibazarwa, University of the Witwatersrand

The past 2 decades have seen a global increase in cardiovascular disease. More than one-third of adults in Africa are hypertensive; as in the urban populations of most developing countries. Yet hypertension remains under-detected in many countries; especially in developing countries. In Africa, hypertension is the leading cause of heart failure. Globally, hypertension accounts for more than half of deaths from stroke, just less than half of deaths from coronary artery disease, and for over one-tenth of all global deaths. In this review, we discuss the escalating occurrence of hypertension in developing countries, before exploring strengths and weaknesses of different measures to control hypertension, and their challenges in developing countries. These include steps to curb the ripple-effect of urbanization on the disease profile of developing societies, and suggestions to improve loopholes in various aspects of health-care delivery that affect surveillance and management of hypertension. Furthermore, we consider the industrial sectors’ contributions toward the solution to the burden of hypertension.