General News
12 November, 2021
Easing pressure on high blood pressure
The Federal Government announced an additional $40.5 million investment to improve the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure).
Far North Queenslanders will now be able to claim rebates for ambulatory blood pressure measurement which monitors a patient’s blood pressure continuously over 24 hours through a wearable device to diagnose if they are hypertensive or not.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is the best available test to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension and more effective than in-clinic blood pressure monitoring.
Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said around 1 in 3 Australians aged 18 and over have high blood pressure, and that men were more likely to have uncontrolled high blood pressure than women. “High blood pressure can lead to other chronic conditions, including stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure and chronic kidney disease,” Mr Entsch said.
Indigenous Australians suffer have a higher rate of high blood pressure than non-indigenous Australians, in particular the 45 – 54 age group with 48 per cent showing effects of high blood pressure as compared to nonindigenous with 34 per cent.
The improved funding will include consultation, fitting of the device, analysis of the data, generation of a report and development of a treatment plan.
