Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative to raise awareness of high BP and act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programmes worldwide. We aimed to screen for hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors in people aged ≥18 years in the community, thereby defining the proportion of subjects with elevated BP and assess the awareness and the effectiveness of its treatment. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 years was carried out in May 2019. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. From May 2019 to June 2019, through 10 cities/provinces in Vietnam, 25 887 individuals with mean age 48.7 (SD ±17.7) years were screened. After multiple imputations, 8758 (33.8%) had hypertension. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 3025 (15.0%) were hypertensive. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 2800 (48.8%) had uncontrolled BP. Raised BP [systolic BP (SBP) ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP (DBP) ≥90 mmHg] was also associated with additional risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake, previous hypertension in pregnancy, and obesity. May Measurement Month 2019 was the most extensive BP screening campaign ever undertaken in Vietnam. Undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension in Vietnam remains a substantial health problem. Local campaigns applying standardized methods such as MMM 2019 will be beneficial to screen for the significant number of individuals with raised BP and increase the awareness of hypertension.

Hypertension awareness and control is poor in low- and middle-income countries. Thus, implementing strategies to increase hypertension detection is needed. Colombia participated as one of the 92 countries involved in the third campaign of the May Measurement Month in 2019. Blood pressure (BP) was measured in 48 324 volunteers from 13 departments in Colombia. In total, 27.9% individuals were identified with hypertension. Of those with hypertension, 63.7% were aware of their condition, 60.0% were on antihypertensive medication, and 38.4% had controlled BP. These results showed low levels of awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in this sample of subjects volunteered to participate, suggest the urgent necessity of implementing programmes to improve the diagnosis and management of hypertension in Colombia.

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Hypertension is the biggest contributing risk factor to cerebrovascular disease and is associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease. The May Measurement Month (MMM) campaign is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of hypertension and acting as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programs worldwide. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of participants aged ≥18 was carried out during May 2019 in Korea. Over 10 000 participants were recruited in the MMM campaign in Korea, with a slogan of ‘A simple measure to save lives—#checkyourpressure’. A total of 9975 participants with valid clinical and blood pressure (BP) data were used for analysis. All participants were Korean in ethnicity, mean age was 57.2 (SD ± 21.2) years, 57.7% were females, and the mean body mass index was 23.4 kg/m2 (SD ± 3.3). In total, 37.7% of the participants reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension, and 91.3% of those diagnosed were on antihypertensive medications. For other comorbidities, 11.6% reported having diabetes mellitus, 2.0% had previous stroke, and 1.0% had previous myocardial infarction. Mean BP was 130.0/81.0 mmHg in the overall population. After multiple imputation, 47.6% of participants were classified as hypertensive (systolic BP ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg or on treatment for raised BP). Among all hypertensive participants, the awareness rate, the treatment rate, and the control rate (systolic BP <140 mmHg and diastolic BP <90 mmHg) were 76.2%, 74.0%, and 50.5%, respectively. Of those on antihypertensive medication, the control rate was 68.2%. While awareness and treatment rates were relatively high in the MMM19 campaign, the BP control rate of the total hypertensive population was still only ∼50%, which demands more emphasis on strict BP control.

Hypertension is an important public health concern of high prevalence among adults. It is associated with an increased mortality rate. The prevalence of hypertension in Lebanon has increased during the last decades, affecting around one-third of the Lebanese population. Since diagnosis and treatment of hypertension is associated with a better prognosis, annual screening and raising awareness about this ‘silent killer’ disease is of extreme value. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in various Lebanese cities in 2019. We recruited adults (≥18 years old) from different sites, through an opportunistic sampling method. For each participant, three blood pressure (BP) readings were recorded and the average of the last two was analysed. In addition, data on lifestyle factors and comorbidities were collected. Participants were considered hypertensive if they had at least one of the following: systolic or diastolic BP ≥140 and/or ≥90 mmHg, respectively, or taking antihypertensive medication. Blood pressure was measured in 7019 participants. The mean age was 46.0 (SD 16.6) years. In total, 2572 participants (36.6%) had hypertension among whom only 64.1% were aware of their disease and 62.3% were on treatment. Blood pressure was controlled in 62.6% of participants taking antihypertensive medications. This study is the largest on hypertension prevalence in Lebanon. The results demonstrated that around one-third of the hypertensive population were not aware of their disease, and that a high percentage was not being treated. These results suggest the need for rapid interventions aimed at raising awareness regarding hypertension in the Lebanese population.