WHO Europe warned in a recent report of lethal levels of salt consumption and uncontrolled high blood pressure.
It said most people in European region consume far too much salt, and more than one in three adults aged 30–79 has hypertension.
The nw WHO/Europe report “Action on salt and hypertension” called for an integrated approach to reduce salt intake and improve detection and control of hypertension to protect people’s health.
The report said cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the predominant cause of disability and premature death in the European Region, causing over 42.5% of all deaths annually, saying it equals to 10, 000 deaths every day.
According to the report, men are almost 2.5 times more likely to die from CVDs than women. There is also a geographic divide – the probability of dying young (30–69 years) from a CVD is nearly five times as high in eastern Europe and central Asia compared to western Europe.
“CVDs and hypertension are largely preventable – and controllable,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“Four million, a staggering figure, is the number of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases every single year – primarily in men, particularly in the eastern part of our WHO region. These are the facts, but this is something we can change. We know what works, but time and time again, we fall short of implementing evidence-based approaches, resulting in unacceptably high levels of avoidable deaths. Implementing targeted policies to reduce salt intake by 25% could save an estimated 900 000 lives from CVDs by 2030.”
Excessive salt consumption is the main driver of hypertension and, subsequently, deaths from heart attacks, strokes and other CVDs. Street food and processed foods are often the main culprits.
The report said that regulating the amount of salt in processed foods has the potential to have a positive impact on people’s health.
