Growth of arterial hypertension cases in Moscow region

A sharp growth of arterial hypertension cases has been marked in the Moscow Region, said Health Minister of the Moscow Region Vladimir Semenov, beginning his report at a meeting of the regional government on Tuesday.

According to Vladimir Semenov's information, in the past 5 years the number of hypertension cases increased by 1.3 times. In 2001, there were over 206,000 patients with cerebral circulation violations, and 9,275 people suffered from myocardial infarction. Arterial hypertension complications were the cause of the death of every third resident of the Moscow Region.

The regional Health Ministry has worked out a specific programme "Prevention and Treatment of Arterial Hypertension" for the years of 2003-2008, the draft of which was approved by the regional government on Tuesday. Its developers hope in the course of the implementation of the programme to strengthen the material base of medical institutions, to provide them with the necessary medicines and to launch an information-propaganda campaign among the population. The latter is particularly important for smoking, alcohol abuse, and a sedentary way of life constitute a great risk for people inclined to develop hypertension.