KARACHI, April 19: A fairly involved research study, billed as the country's biggest on hypertension, was launched at the Aga Khan University on Monday.
The study is funded by the Wellcome Trust of the United Kingdom, which has committed $500,000 for it. Some 20,000 people living in 12 towns in Karachi will be observed and studied under the research study.
Under the three-year research programme, about 10,000 people living in the 12 selected towns will be educated at home on issues in hypertension while the rest will not be. The aim of the study would be to determine if education and training plays a role in the prevalence of hypertension.
Under the second part of the research programme, the people suffering from hypertension will be monitored as they will be provided cost-effective treatment. According to the principal investigator of the research study - Dr Tazeen Jafar of the Aga Khan University - about 20 per cent of the Pakistanis who are aged 15 or above suffered from hypertension.
Also, one in three middle-aged adults were hypertensive. A whopping 70 per cent of these people were unaware of their condition. Dr Jafar said her study, entitled "Population based strategies for effective control of high blood pressure in Pakistan", was being undertaken in collaboration with the Imperial College, London.
According to her, the study held relevance to the country in the backdrop of the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and stroke.
The proposed study was further said to be a follow-up of a successfully completed pilot study which used rigorous scientific criteria for determining the burden of hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases in a representative adult population of Karachi.
According to her, the study revealed that women had at least an equivalent risk of heart disease to men and that as mentioned above a significant number of population, including children were inflicted with it .
This, she said, was reflective of highest prevalence of the chronic illnesses reported from this region of the world and deserved emergent attention, adding that in this backdrop the study being launched with an appreciable grant of $500,000 by the UK-based Wellcome Trust, may come forward with concrete and viable recommendations to address the situation.