The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Control Hypertension

As a physician, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating effects of hypertension. Left uncontrolled, it leads to heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease, and cognitive decline in later life, and it can impact mother and baby during and after pregnancy. In addition, as evidenced by the global COVID-19 outbreak earlier in the year, we’ve seen the broad impact of preventable health conditions on worse outcomes.

Hypertension is unfortunately common, but there are interventions and programs that have been successful in improving control. Our country has many hypertension control champions—doctors, practices, communities, and health systems that have excelled at achieving high rates of hypertension control among their patients. We need to learn from their many years of “blood, sweat, and tears” and apply their principles in new settings.