Blood pressure control could prevent more than 518,000 deaths annually — News-Medical

In the United States, a preliminary modeling analysis was presented at the American Heart Association Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2026 conference, according to which more effective blood pressure control in 20 countries could prevent 518,476 cardiovascular disease deaths annually. News-Medical reports.

Researchers calculated the potential effect of expanding preventive healthcare to about 80% of patients who need it, matching the level of high-performing healthcare systems in the United States. The analysis covered 20 upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income countries with the highest number of deaths from noncommunicable diseases. Low-income countries were not included in the sample.

Hypertension control has the greatest potential

According to the estimates, controlling high blood pressure would produce the largest reduction in mortality among the six preventive services analyzed. In upper-middle-income countries, it could prevent 223,282 deaths per year, and in lower-middle-income countries, 223,655 deaths.

The modeling also showed that only about one in five adults with hypertension in the countries studied had controlled blood pressure — below 140/90 mmHg. At the same time, American Heart Association recommendations for treating adults with hypertension set a target blood pressure below 130/80 mmHg.

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Other preventive measures

Increasing the use of statins among people for whom they are indicated could prevent 340,682 cardiovascular disease deaths per year. Improving glucose control among people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes could prevent 309,520 deaths annually.

According to the authors' calculations, statins are used by 16% of people with high cholesterol. In 39% of people with diabetes, blood sugar levels were below optimal, while coverage with recommended cancer screenings ranged from 14% to 26%. Increasing colorectal cancer screening coverage to 80% could prevent 206,767 deaths from the disease annually.

The authors noted that data on the use of preventive services were limited in some countries. The study also does not propose specific ways to expand access to such services.