Governor General takes part in activities for May Measurement Month

Governor General of Barbados, Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason took the lead yesterday, by having a blood pressure screening event hosted at her official residence at Government House, in celebration of World Hypertension Day. Her staff also joined in the initiative.

President of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados, Dr. Kenneth Connell, accompanied by CEO Fiona Anthony, noted that the exercise was conducted as part of the activities for May Measurement Month (MMM), a global awareness campaign which was launched in May 2017, which puts the spotlight on increasing access to blood pressure screening, as potentially the most effective way to reduce hypertension’s adverse toll on health.

“Every year, ten million people die of hypertension and more than half of that group don’t know they have it. This year, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados is teaming up with more than 130 countries internationally to mark May Measurement Month, with our valued partner the Barbados Defence Force and our theme is “Drilling Down the Numbers In 2018”. We’ve been screening blood pressures around the island, during the month of May” Dr. Connell explained.

“We are here at Government House and we’ve just screened members of staff, (and we also had) the privilege of screening Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason. We are very pleased to be here, as we think it signals a message to the general public, of the seriousness of hypertension as a silent killer,” he added.

“In Barbados, we know that in adults over the age of 65, more than half of that population may have the disease and similar to international statistics, more than half of that group don’t know they have it. Of the people who know that they have hypertension, we know that only two thirds of them are successfully treated with medication and of those on medication, only a third of them may actually have control. So the first step is really awareness,” Dr. Connell said.

He therefore highlighted the need for regular blood pressure checks for those over the age of eighteen and the value of living a healthy lifestyle, so as to reduce the number of persons who develop hypertension and to aid those who need to control it.