Take part in May Measurement Month 2018

May Measurement Month (MMM) is the world’s largest blood pressure screening project. Last year’s campaign took 1.2 million people’s blood pressures and this year’s is set to be even bigger. The team are looking for volunteers to set up screening centres and help spread the word about getting a check.  

What is May Measurement Month? 

The screening project is led by the International Society of Hypertension and aims to raise awareness of high blood pressure to improve global health. It puts the spotlight on improving access to blood pressure testing as the most effective way to prevent the health problems cause by high blood pressure.  

For one month, in May 2018, volunteers around the world will set up screening stations in public places to measure as many people’s blood pressures as possible. This will provide vital information to Governments about their nation’s health and could inspire them to make changes to save lives. 

ISH President Neil Poulter explains how MMM came about and how it saves lives in this video. 

1.2 million blood pressures measured in one month

2017 saw the first ever May Measurement Month.  Over 100 countries took part and over 1.2 million people had their blood pressure measured. Over 100,000 of these were found to have high blood pressure and weren’t aware of it, and a similar number who knew they had high blood pressure learned that it wasn’t under control, giving them the chance to get treatment and support to lead a long and healthy life. 

Volunteers set up screening centres in imaginative locations, from city centres and railway stations to tents in remote villages. A team in India collected 20,000 pressures in just 22 days, and two British nurses ran a clinic in Cambridge in early May before heading to Uganda to do the same in a Kampala hospital. 

Why the campaign is needed

High blood pressure is the number one contributing risk factor for fatal illnesses leading to 10 million lives lost needlessly every year worldwide. Though high blood pressure is becoming more and more common, only half of those who have it know it. 

With the strap line, A Simple Measure to Save Lives, the campaign aims to:

• raise awareness of high blood pressure and the health problems it causes
• create scientific evidence to inform and influence health policy 
• screen a further 1.5 million people this May. 

Hemini Bharadia, Marketing Manager at Blood Pressure UK, explains why we’re supporting May Measurement Month

“Many people are unaware they have high blood pressure. In the UK alone there are over five million people walking around like a ticking time bomb, so you can imagine the numbers are significantly higher worldwide. High blood pressure is symptomless, but the strokes and heart attacks it causes are not, which is why it is called ‘the silent killer’. For this reason, it’s very important to Know Your Numbers! 

“You can help to save lives by setting up a screening centre for MMM 2018, encouraging people in your part of the world to check their blood pressure.”

How you can take part

There are several ways you can take part this year and your support will make all the difference. Find out more from maymeasure.com

1. Be part of the team. If you are a health professional, you can take part by leading a screening centre or volunteering in one. There are resources available to help you organise and promote a centre, measure and record blood pressures on the day, plus materials to hand out to people with raised numbers. 

You can also help promote it to other health professional volunteers and more broadly to encourage people to go along and have their blood pressure checked.  

2. Get measured. As well as finding out your blood pressure numbers you will add to the scientific data being collected worldwide. 

3. Help create awareness. Let as many people as possible know about the event by word of mouth and on social media. Support the event on social media using the Twitter handle @MayMeasure and hashtag #checkyourpressure for Twitter, facebook and Instagram.