Editor’s note: In early 2020, in light of the global COVID pandemic, the American Heart Association , adjusted its organizational goals to focus on new 2024 Impact Goal replacing the 2030 Impact Goal addressed in this release.
Highlights:
- The American Heart Association (AHA) joins the National Hypertension Control Roundtable (NHCR)® as a founding member.
- The collaboration aims to improve blood pressure control rates from 50 to 80%.
- According to the AHA’s 2020 statistical update, eliminating hypertension could reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke by more than 30%.
DALLAS, Feb, 27, 2020 – In a move toward meeting goals for better cardiovascular health in the United States over the next decade, the American Heart Association is joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Hypertension Control Roundtable (NHCR)® along with other founding members in a public, private and non-profit collaboration committed to increasing blood pressure control rates to 80% by 2025. Currently, only about half of people living in the U.S. with high blood pressure have it adequately controlled.
Hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure, poses a significant health risk to our society. More than 100 million US adults (nearly 1 in 2) have hypertension, which contributes to heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney failure, loss of eyesight and sexual dysfunction. All of these conditions affect one’s quality and length of life.
Data published in January in the American Heart Association’s Heart & Stroke Statistics - 2020 Update, show heart disease and stroke deaths continue to decline, but more people are living in poor health, beginning at a younger age, largely due to controllable risk factors like hypertension.
“This year, the American Heart Association outlined a bold 2030 Impact Goal for the U.S. to help people not just add more years to their lives, but also add more life to their years,” said American Heart Association Chief Medical Officer for Prevention, Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP, who is interim co-chair of the NHCR. “We are committed to working together with other health organizations and the communities we live in to increase healthy life expectancy from 66 to 68 years by 2030. Getting high blood pressure under control will go a long way toward achieving our goal.”
According to the AHA’s statistics, eliminating hypertension could reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke by more than 30% – having a larger impact on cardiovascular death rates than the elimination of all other risk factors among women and all except smoking among men.
“We look forward to working with the NHCR’s interim leadership, the CDC and fellow founding members to spotlight the challenge of hypertension control and advance efforts to meet this goal,” said Sanchez.
Joining the NHCR further extends the collaborative efforts of the AHA and the American Medical Association (AMA). The AHA and AMA have been working together since 2016 on Target:BP, a free national initiative to help U.S. health care organizations and care teams improve blood pressure control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program that recognizes organizations committed to improving and controlling blood pressure.
About the NHCR
The NHCR anticipates sponsoring its first national meeting in the Fall of 2020. The NHCR is soliciting additional supporting organizations and will manage membership inquiries on a rolling basis. Membership information can be obtained by contacting the NHCR at HTN80@cdc.gov or reviewing our planned activities online.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
###
For Media Inquiries and AHA/ASA Expert Perspective: 214-706-1173
Maggie Francis: 214-706-1382; Maggie.Francis@heart.org
For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)
heart.org and strokeassociation.org