#Becauseisayso Raising Awareness of Hypertension
In connection with the International Day of Hypertension, the French pharmaceutical company ‘Servier’ organized a press conference in Georgia as part of the global social project "Talk about the Pressure."
Director of the Georgian pharmaceutical company ‘Servier,’ Maia Khetsuriani; the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Georgia, Pascal Meunier; and Director of the Cardiology Center, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine of TSU, President of Society of Hypertension Studies of Georgia, Professor Bezhan Tsinamdzgvrishvili, addressed attendees at the conference.
“French pharmaceutical company ‘Servier’ is running the campaign #Becauseisayso as a social campaign of utmost importance to introducing to a large number of people what hypertension is and the problems related to the condition,” said Khetsuriani. “This disease is now manageable, but it is very important to have information about it and timely diagnosis- easy to do, starting with measuring your blood pressure. This is the main slogan of the campaign.”
Doctors, patients, goodwill ambassadors involved in the project, and media partners were invited to the event.
Today, society lacks information on hypertension and its complexities. Some people know about the disease but don’t take it seriously; others have blood pressure but don’t control it.
"Arterial hypertension can lead to vascular disease,” notes Bezhan Tsinamdzgvrishvili. “Hypertension often presents with no symptoms but it is important to diagnose it quickly. Five people die every day from hypertension. Hypertension is the main cause of complications such as stroke and heart attack."
The press conference announced on May 17 that all the activities of the campaign "Measure your blood pressure - #Becauseisayso" aim to alert people to the need to check their blood pressure and to inform them of the complications resulting from the condition.
At the end of the press conference, a video presentation was given, the main participants being Duta Skhirtladze, Nika Tsulukidze, Ana Chiradze, Lela Meburishvili, Giorgi Kekelidze, and Ruska Makashvili, who joined the project as goodwill ambassadors to encourage their parents, friends, relatives and community to look after their health and to control their blood pressure.
"I have high blood pressure, I don’t need to control it because I have high pressure constantly,” said renowned actor Duta Skhirtladze. “I’ve had it since I was a child and it’s a form of heart disease. We call on our society to "measure your blood pressure!"
The French Ambassador says he is glad Georgia is actively involved in the campaign. "It is important that the global movement "Because I Say So" works to inform people about hypertension. The aim of the campaign is to increase public awareness of hypertension, introduce a regular measurement of pressure and challenge the involvement of the state. It is also important that this campaign is underway with the support of French pharmaceutical company ‘Servier’.
The International Day of Hypertension is celebrated annually on May 17. The 2018 campaign #Becauseisayso is a social and global project to promote prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases (including hypertension) both in Georgia and throughout the world. According to the latest data, about 1.2 billion people worldwide are fighting hypertension and this rate is constantly growing. The current campaign aims to draw attention to hypertension and raise public awareness about this disease. The encouragement of young people will motivate their parents and relatives to check their pressure indicators and better monitor the disease. Informing the public about hypertension is a prerequisite for fighting this disease.