The dangerous road to hypertension

One in every 15 people in Dubai is hypertensive because of a poor diet and lifestyle, according to results from a survey that also pointed to a clear link between lack of education and the high prevalence of hypertension.

Asma Ali Zain

Published: Wed 8 Aug 2012, 8:40 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 1:42 PM

According to survey results released by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Tuesday, one in every six Emirati is diagnosed with hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension among Emiratis is significantly higher than other nationalities. After Emiratis, it is other Arab nationalities and the third highest population in Dubai to be hypertensive are Filipinos.

The survey was based on interviews of 5,000 respondents in Dubai and was jointly conducted by the DHA and the Dubai Statistics Centre.

“The results provide a detailed breakdown of the percentage of hypertensive people in Dubai, their age, gender, nationality, income bracket and other parameters that will eventually help us in formulating our public health policies and developing our awareness campaigns to target this audience base,” said Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy Sector at the DHA.

Previous results revealed by the survey highlighted that only 19 per cent of Dubai’s population gets sufficient amount of exercise which is required to stay healthy. It also said that one in five deaths in Dubai are attributed to cardiovascular diseases.

“There is no doubt that a significant percentage of our population suffers from lifestyle diseases and therefore it is imperative to continue and intensify our awareness campaigns across all sections of society to educate them about the importance of exercising and eating healthy,” added Laila.

Amal Salim Al Halyan, Senior Research Specialist, Health Policy and Strategy Sector at the DHA, said: “Hypertension is known to trigger off diseases such as stroke and cardiovascular diseases so hypertensive people have to be very careful about their diet and lifestyle.” She also said that there is a clear link between lack of education and higher prevalence of hypertension.