National Hypertension
Taskforce
A collaborative cross-sector approach to reducing the burden of high blood pressure in Australia.
Goal
To increase blood pressure control* from 32% to 70% by 2030 in Australia.
*Defined as <140/90 mmHg
Based on the latest data available in 2022 when the Taskforce launched, one in three Australian adults (6.8 million people) have hypertension.1
About half (3.4 million) don’t know they have it. 1-2
1.2 million (18%) are aware they have it, but it is uncontrolled (>140/90 mmHg). 1-2
Of those who do have it detected and treated, only 32% (or 2.2 million) are treated effectively and have their BP under control (<140/90 mmHg). 1-2
One in three Australian adults
25,000 deaths annually
$91.6 billion could be saved
1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. High blood pressure. Canberra: AIHW, 2019. | 2. Carnagarin R, Nolde JM, Yang J, et al. Stagnating rates of blood pressure control in Australia: insights from opportunistic screening of 10 046 participants of the May Measurement Month campaigns. J Hypertens 2023; 41(4): 632-7. | 3. GBD 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet 2020; 396(10258): 1223-49. | 4. Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Burden of Disease. Deaths by Risk Factor in Australia. 2019. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-deaths-by-risk-factor?country=~AUS (accessed April 2024). | 5. Xu X, Islam SMS, Schlaich M, Jennings G, Schutte AE. The contribution of raised blood pressure to the burden of cardiovascular disease and deaths in Australia from 1990 to 2019. PLoS One 2024; 19(2): e0297229. | 6. Hird TR, Zomer E, Owen AJ, Magliano DJ, Liew D, Ademi Z. Productivity Burden of Hypertension in Australia. Hypertension 2019; 73(4): 777-84.
Featured updates
Taskforce official launch
The National Hypertension Taskforce was officially launched by the Honourable Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care on the 8th December 2022.
Roadmap publication
The Roadmap has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia. It is built on three pillars to (A) prevent; (B) detect; and (C) effectively treat raised BP.
National Hypertension Summit 2024
Don’t miss the exciting opportunity to attend the inaugural National Hypertension Summit hosted by the National Hypertension Taskforce, a joint initiative of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance and Hypertension Australia.
Podcast miniseries:
Tackling Hypertension Head-On
Taskforce co-lead Prof. Alta Schutte hosts a six-part miniseries podcast on Drivetime Radio covering everything hypertension – from guidelines, lifestyle choices, blood pressure monitoring devices, and multidisciplinary care.