A public awareness campaign on hypertension was held at the Parliament of Georgia at the initiative of the Health Care and Social Issues Committee.

The event was opened by the Chair of the Health Care and Social Issues Committee, Zaza Lominadze.

“Today’s event serves as a kind of concluding gathering, and it is important that it is being hosted by the Parliament of Georgia so that we can jointly discuss the challenges facing our country. May 17 is World Hypertension Day, established by the World Health Organization in 2005, and Georgia has, of course, joined this initiative”, - the Committee Chair stated.

According to him, approximately 1.2 million people in Georgia suffer from arterial hypertension.

“We are actively working to address this challenge and achieve our target indicators. By 2027, we aim to increase to 50% the number of patients whose treatment results in normal blood pressure levels. This is a major challenge not only for Georgia but also for Europe and the world”, - Zaza Lominadze noted.

Participants were also addressed by the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

He thanked the Health Care and Social Issues Committee for initiating the event.

“Today’s event is dedicated to raising awareness about hypertension. It is important to pay attention to health, particularly to diseases that often progress silently and remain unnoticed, even though they affect one-third of our adult population. Raising awareness and encouraging every individual to pay attention to this condition is essential because it gradually damages health and reduces life expectancy”, - Shalva Papuashvili stated.

The Speaker further noted that the modern era is full of factors that contribute to the development of hypertension.

According to him, it is important for every individual to take care of their own health, which ultimately affects both their quality of life and the well-being of those around them.

The event was also attended by the IDPs, Labour, Health and Social Affairs Minister, Mikheil Sarjveladze.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude for organizing today’s event, as awareness-raising campaigns are of exceptional importance. Such initiatives are undoubtedly among the most effective tools for building a sustainable healthcare system”, - Mikheil Sarjveladze stated.

According to the Minister, holding similar events is important for further increasing public awareness.

“Our Ministry will always be fully engaged in efforts to provide society with more information on how people can protect themselves by adopting healthy daily habits, thereby minimizing the occurrence of severe health outcomes”, - he said.

The event brought together representatives of the professional community and featured presentations and panel discussions on key topics, including: the relevance of the problem from a cardiovascular perspective; hypertension – the global and Georgian burden; the importance of disease prevention in the context of multimorbidity.