Take part in May Measurement Month
Help us take one million blood pressures during May Measurement Month
In the first ever May Measurement Month, health professionals around the world are joining forces to raise awareness of high blood pressure in one of the world’s biggest public screening programmes.
By collecting blood pressure readings of 25 million people worldwide, the campaign, led by the International Society of Hypertension and the World Hypertension League, aims to raise awareness of high blood pressure and the health problems it causes. It will provide governments with much-needed information about the number of people living with high blood pressure in their countries, enabling them to take action to improve their nations’ health.
In the process, the screening programme will find many of those who have high blood pressure and don’t know it, giving them the chance to get the treatment or advice they need.
In this video about May Measurement Month, Professor Neil Poulter, President of the International society of Hypertension, explains why we need this unprecedented screening programme:
“People die suddenly as a result of having high blood pressure. Most patients with high blood pressure have no symptoms whatsoever - they don’t know they have a problem, but then they have a heart attack or a stroke. The best thing we can do to improve the tremendous burden of disease that blood pressure causes is to improve awareness.
“The stimulus for anyone involved in hypertension and its management around the world is that we’re going to generate some interesting data. Imagine the data on 25 million adults. We’ll know the mean blood pressure levels for men and women right across the age range in every country that’s involved - over a hundred countries - there’s never been a screening programme that large for anything, anywhere in the world.”
The British and Irish Hypertension Society (BIHS) are leading the campaign for the UK and Ireland, taking on the target of measuring a million people’s blood pressure in just one month. Health professional volunteers are challenged with finding imaginative ways to reach as many people as possible, so expect to see blood pressure screening stations in supermarkets, sports grounds and all manner of locations near you.
Professor Graham MacGregor, Chairman of Blood Pressure UK says: “16million people in the UK have high blood pressure, and many of them don’t know it, leading to tens of thousands of unnecessary strokes and heart attacks every year. On a global scale, 10 million people die every year due to problems caused by high blood pressure.
"May Measurement Month is a milestone event in raising awareness of the countless deaths that could be prevented if everyone knew their numbers, and has the potential to change healthcare policies worldwide. We strongly urge people around the UK and around the world to make history and take part – either by volunteering at a screening centre or taking yourself and everyone you know along for a blood pressure test.”
Get involved
Have your pressure checked. Go along to your nearest blood pressure screening station and have your blood pressure checked, and why not take a friend with you? Ideally we want people who haven’t had their blood pressure checked in the last year to come along. Details of screening centres will be available soon.
Volunteer. Health professionals can also volunteer at to measure blood pressures - visit the MMM website to find your local screening leader.
Take part in Know Your Numbers! Week. To help beat high blood pressure in the UK, you could also host a pressure station to encourage people to have their blood pressure checked during Know Your Numbers! Week in September 2017. This is our annual flagship event, reaching thousands of people every year with pressure stations up and down the country. Register your interest.