High Blood Pressure and COVID-19, help save lives!

Talking points could include

1. High Blood Pressure and COVID-19

Early research shows that people with high blood pressure may be more likely to:

• Experience worse symptoms, or complications 
• At higher risk of dying from the infection – the risk is about twice as high as that of the overall population 

2. High Blood Pressure is called the silent killer for good reason

• Some of the highest blood pressure levels in the world have been recorded in Sub Saharan-Africa 
• 70% of these adults don’t even know they have high blood pressure 
• Every 3 seconds someone dies from the consequences of high blood pressure 
• You don’t feel ill with high blood pressure until you have a cardiac event – like a stroke, heart attack, even death  
• SA has the highest rate of high blood pressure in people age 50 and over for any country in the world – at any point in history! 

3. South Africa, it is time to act: 

• Clearly South Africa is facing a national emergency with the consequences of high blood pressure every year, robbing us of loved ones whose deaths could have been prevented 
• Now more than ever we need media, government, pharmaceuticals, and South African citizens to work together to beat this silent killer 

Should you be keen to interview an expert, one of our Doctors and/or Professors is ready to step in and talk through how to manage high blood pressure with a particular focus on COVID-19. They can also offer tips and tricks on how to avoid developing the illness.