Speakers at a workshop on Saturday called for allocating a significant share of Bangladesh's increased health budget to hypertension control, saying sustainable financing could help reduce deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
They said NCDs, including hypertension, account for approximately 571,000 deaths in Bangladesh every year, making stronger investment in prevention, treatment and access to essential medicines crucial.
The call was made at a workshop titled “Sustainable Financing for Hypertension Control in Bangladesh: Progress, Barriers and the Way Forward” at BMA Bhaban in the capital.
Research and advocacy organisation PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) organised the workshop with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).
A total of 28 journalists from print, television and online media attended the event.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' (BBS) Health and Morbidity Status Survey 2025, hypertension ranks first among the country's top 10 diseases.
In 2024, around 283,800 people died from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh, with hypertension accounting for 52 percent of those deaths, the workshop was told.
The rising prevalence of hypertension among young people is also a concern.
According to the Bangladesh NCD STEPS Survey 2018, around 12 percent of people aged 18-39 were found to have hypertension.
Md Riad Arafin, deputy general manager (sales and marketing) of Essential Drugs Company Limited, said the increase in the health budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year was an important government initiative.
Prioritising hypertension control in the increased allocation would help ensure an uninterrupted supply of free medicines for disadvantaged communities, he said.
Doulot Akter Mala, president of the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF), said NCDs account for 71 percent of all deaths in the country, while only 4.2 percent of the health budget is allocated to the sector.
The media could play an important role in highlighting the need for increased allocations to address the burden of NCDs, she said.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh country lead of GHAI, said hypertension affected more people in the country than any other disease, making sustainable financing essential to controlling it.
The workshop was chaired by ABM Zubair, executive director of PROGGA, while Samiha Bintay Kamal, programme officer of the organisation, delivered the thematic presentation.