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Many people with hypertension are not diagnosed, treated or controlled

Many adults with high blood pressure do not know they have it, are not treated, or do not have it under control. WHO's 2023 global report estimates that in 2019, among adults aged 30 to 79 with hypertension, 54% had been diagnosed, 42% were being treated and 21% had their hypertension controlled. A WHO fact sheet from September 2025, whose key facts date its prevalence figure to 2024, says 44% are unaware, 44% are diagnosed and treated, and 23% have it controlled. These are separate estimates for different years, not a measured change. The blood pressure control gap is what Million Hearts' blood pressure priority in the United States and WHO's HEARTS package are aimed at.

  • Bottleneck
  • In this atlas

Overview

Technical summary

Burden claim rests on two WHO publications with different estimate years and categories, shown side by side and not merged. They are modelled population estimates, not registry counts. WHO's fact sheet calls hypertension a major cause of premature death worldwide. HEARTS and Million Hearts are the efforts recorded here; neither record shows that closing the gap is achieved. The overlay on the WHO organization record adds WHO as an actor on this bottleneck.

Scope

Adults aged 30 to 79 years with hypertension worldwide, as WHO estimates; the report also gives variation by sex, region and country income level.

Stage
Across the care cascade: finding hypertension, starting treatment and keeping blood pressure controlled
Why it is severe
WHO's fact sheet says hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide.

Burden

  • Burden Evidence synthesis Certainty not assessed

    The WHO Global report on hypertension (2023) estimates that in 2019, among adults aged 30 to 79 years with hypertension, 54% had been diagnosed, 42% were being treated for their hypertension and 21% had their hypertension controlled. A WHO hypertension fact sheet dated 25 September 2025, whose key facts give the number of adults with hypertension for 2024, says that an estimated 600 million adults with hypertension (44%) are unaware that they have the condition, approximately 630 million adults with hypertension (44%) are diagnosed and treated, and approximately 320 million adults with hypertension (23%) have it under control. The fact sheet prints no year beside those three figures. The two sets are separate estimates for different years, not a measured change between 2019 and 2024 or 2025.

    Applies to Adult
    • Adults aged 30 to 79 years with hypertension. The report defines hypertension as blood pressure of 140 mmHg systolic or higher, or 90 mmHg diastolic or higher, or being on medication. The fact sheet gives 140/90 mmHg or higher.
    • Population-level estimates from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration with additional calculations (report figure source), not a care setting.
    • Worldwide; the report also gives regional and country-income-level variation.
    • Adults aged 30 to 79 years
    Follow-up Not stated in the source: these are population estimates, not a follow-up of individuals. The report's diagnosis, treatment and control figures are for 2019; the fact sheet's key facts give 2024 for the number of adults with hypertension.
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    Limitations
    The report and the fact sheet are two WHO publications. The report's figures are for 2019; the fact sheet gives a year only for its prevalence key fact (2024), and its categories differ from the report's (unaware, and diagnosed and treated, against diagnosed, treated and controlled). They are not reconciled here. The report defines hypertension as blood pressure of 140 mmHg systolic or higher, or 90 mmHg diastolic or higher, or being on medication; the fact sheet gives 140/90 mmHg or higher. The figures are modelled population estimates for ages 30 to 79 (the report cites the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and additional calculations), not counts from a registry, and they are global averages: the report also describes variation by sex, region and country income level.
    Last checked
    2026-10-15
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (3)

    1. Supports Global report on hypertension: the race against a silent killer

      Publication · World Health Organization · Edition WHO publication page and English PDF from WHO IRIS, both fetched 2026-10-15. The page dates the report 19 September 2023. The PDF has 291 pages. · Published 2023-09-19 · ISBN: 978-92-4-008106-2

      Locator
      PDF page 24, section 2.3 Status of hypertension care, paragraph 1
      How it applies
      Diagnosed, treated and controlled shares.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      67b96f51a8e8b8261319eb59f0b09b970628c74f068c28b92bcb858ce0ac502b
      Reuse basis
      The PDF states the work is available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (copyright page, PDF page 4). Short quotations with attribution only, until the atlas settles its public data licence. The WHO terms of use (fetched 2026-10-15 as cl-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab, hash only) say extracts of the web site may be reproduced for research or private study but not for sale or for commercial use, with acknowledgment of WHO as the source. Hashes only; neither the page nor the PDF is committed.

    2. Supports Hypertension (WHO fact sheet)

      Webpage · World Health Organization · Edition WHO fact sheet fetched 2026-10-15; the page is dated 25 September 2025.

      Locator
      Key facts, bullets 3 to 5
      How it applies
      Unaware, diagnosed and treated, and controlled shares from the fact sheet.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      2025-09-25
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      32ffbba46cfbc27cba316446a74eaf7ebc28af89d3b245232bc426c70842d902
      Reuse basis
      The WHO terms of use (fetched 2026-10-15 as cl-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab, hash only) say extracts of the web site may be reproduced for research or private study but not for sale or for commercial use, with acknowledgment of WHO as the source. Public text is quote, with short quotations only and attribution. Hash only; the page is not committed.

    3. Background Global report on hypertension: the race against a silent killer

      Publication · World Health Organization · Edition WHO publication page and English PDF from WHO IRIS, both fetched 2026-10-15. The page dates the report 19 September 2023. The PDF has 291 pages. · Published 2023-09-19 · ISBN: 978-92-4-008106-2

      Locator
      PDF page 22, global burden of hypertension
      How it applies
      Number of adults with hypertension.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      67b96f51a8e8b8261319eb59f0b09b970628c74f068c28b92bcb858ce0ac502b
      Reuse basis
      The PDF states the work is available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (copyright page, PDF page 4). Short quotations with attribution only, until the atlas settles its public data licence. The WHO terms of use (fetched 2026-10-15 as cl-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab, hash only) say extracts of the web site may be reproduced for research or private study but not for sale or for commercial use, with acknowledgment of WHO as the source. Hashes only; neither the page nor the PDF is committed.

Current efforts

Record details

Record id
cardio:bottleneck-uncontrolled-hypertension
Content hash
31dcd1d356a3be29d5520482d09ee2667fd5a6accd6eb053f901cd5d50d08f57