Int'l Youth Day 2025: Measures needed to curb hypertension risk among youths

City Desk:

Immediate and effective measures are urgently needed to protect Bangladesh’s young generation from the rising threat of hypertension and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), warned experts.

Unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, sedentary lifestyles, and air pollution are driving an alarming increase in these conditions among the youth, they said at a webinar titled “Hypertension Risk and the Youth of Bangladesh,” organised by the research and advocacy organisation PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) on Tuesday to mark National and International Youth Day 2025, says UNB.

The event was supported by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and co-hosted by youth organisations including Bangladesh Medical Students’ Society (BMSS), Platform Doctors Foundation, It’s Humanity Foundation, Youth Club of Bangladesh, Kashful Foundation, and Give Bangladesh. This year’s Youth Day theme is “Youth Advancing Multilateral Cooperation Through Technology and Partnerships.” Speakers said NCDs, including hypertension, account for 71 percent of all deaths in Bangladesh, with 19 percent occurring prematurely. Without prompt prevention and control, the burden of these diseases among young people will increase sharply, leading to reduced workforce productivity and greater pressure on the country’s healthcare system and economy, they said.