BDH: Empowering Hypertension Busters in the Community
By: Melanie Holt Photo By: GPC-BDH Date: May 27, 2019
HYPERTENSION BUSTERS. 72 Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) from the Municipality of San Juan, La Union have been empowered to combat hypertension in the community through a lecture by Dr. Sherwin dela Cruz, internal medicine specialist, on May 27, 2019 at Bacnotan District Hospital (BDH), La Union in line with the National Hypertension Awareness Month.
Under the leadership of Chief of Hospital Dr. Zenserly Pagaduan, Bacnotan District Hospital’s (BDH) Dr. Sherwin dela Cruz, internal medicine specialist, held a lecture for 72 barangay health workers (BHWs) of the Municipality of San Juan, La Union to combat hypertension in the community in line with National Hypertension Awareness Month on May 27, 2019 in Bacnotan, La Union.
San Juan is one of the catchment areas of BDH. Through their BHWs acting as information disseminators, individuals in their respective localities will also be familiar of the symptoms, risk factors, and the ways to prevent hypertension.
As mentioned in the lecture, high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of mortality in the global burden of disease study. Moreover, an elevated blood pressure affects more than one billion individuals and causes an estimated 9.4 million deaths per year worldwide.
Signs and symptoms of hypertension to watch out for were severe headache; fatigue or confusion; vision problems; chest pain; difficulty of breathing; irregular heartbeat; blood in the urine; and pounding in the chest, neck, or ears.
Dr. dela Cruz also assured the audience that hypertension is preventable if these risk factors are avoided namely, high cholesterol levels; high sodium with low potassium intake; alcohol drinking; smoking; diabetes; obesity; physical inactivity; and an unhealthy diet.
He also taught the BHWs the key steps to measure BP and the importance of preparing the patient first before taking a BP measurement. He told them that they should advice the patient to relax, sit on a chair with their feet on floor and back supported for more than five minutes; and make sure the patient avoids caffeine, exercise, and smoking for at least 30 minutes before the measurement.
Through empowering the frontliners in the community, the health goal of Gov. Pacoy of a “Healthy La Union, Happy La Union by 2022 will be achieved.#
