BMC’s Screening finds 8 per cent have BP issues

Mumbai: Two weeks into the door-to-door screening for blood pressure, the civic health teams have checked 13,774 people in 21 wards. Around 1,115 (8 per cent) people have been labelled as suspected blood pressure patients and referred for thorough check-up at BMC’s Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray clinics.

As blood pressure is a leading cause of death, the idea behind door-to-door screening of people who are over 30 years of age is to ensure that patients are put on medication at the earliest to avoid stroke and heart attacks.

The BMC carries out the screening only on Wednesdays as most of its ground staff is busy with the measles outbreak and immunisation drives. “Only 62 of our 210 health posts are involved in BP screening, but we plan to raise the numbers soon,” said BMC executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare.