General practice at the heart of hypertension roadmap

The National Hypertension Taskforce has officially launched its Roadmap for Australia to improve its blood pressure control rates from the current 32% to 70% by 2030, in line with other high-income countries.
 
Hypertension is the leading risk factor for preventable deaths in Australia, contributing to more than 25,000 fatalities annually, according to the Taskforce.
 
The Roadmap is a key component of fulfilling a national goal, set nearly two years ago, by a multidisciplinary team of practitioners.
 
The Taskforce included representatives from the RACGP, the Heart Foundation, the Stroke Foundation and Kidney Health Australia.
 
The Roadmap was a result of several consultative workshops – with general practice ending up at the centre of the initiative.
 
Ultimately, its key recommendations include a focus towards team-based care, empowering the community to take charge of its health, and supporting equitable and accessible screening and health testing programs. 
 
The published Roadmap states that implementing a screening protocol once a year for all patients visiting general practices is essential.
 
‘With 87% of people in Australia seeing a general practitioner once in any given year, implementation of primary care incentives for routine blood pressure and heart health checks is likely to achieve most success in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure,’ it reads.
 
The Roadmap is built on three pillars: to prevent, detect, and effectively treat raised blood pressure.
 
‘To reach the target of 70% blood pressure control, we need to detect and treat significantly more of the 3.4 million Australians with raised blood pressure who are unaware of it,’ it reads.
 
‘Although opportunistic screening is important, systematic screening in general practice should be incentivised through Government support as this would be the most likely route to successfully detect 90% of people with hypertension.’
 
Taskforce Co-lead Professor Alta Schutte said the Roadmap was a clear guide and solution that is ‘not only critical but possible’.
 
The Taskforce found that reduction of blood pressure to less than 140/90 mmHg is only achieved in 32% of people with hypertension in Australia, and control rates have stagnated for a decade.
 
This is in comparison to other high-income countries like Canada, which is at 68%.
 
Hypertension Australia President Professor Markus Schlaich notes that management of high blood pressure in the community works best in collaboration between ‘general practitioners, pharmacists, remote healthcare workers, nurse practitioners and all other healthcare providers’. 
 
‘Through collaboration and active engagement, Australia has the potential to establish itself as a global benchmark for blood pressure control,’ he said.
 
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