The Hemofarm Foundation has started the campaign Don’t Let It Burst that aims to raise health culture and encourage people to regular blood pressure control. Within this campaign, the Hemofarm Foundation, with the support of the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Public Health Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut, which has launched the initiative to establish a National Day for Combating High Blood Pressure in Serbia.
High blood pressure is the most massive disease of today. In the world there are more than two billion adults with this serious health problem. High blood pressure is also called the silent killer, because it is a disease that doesn’t usually give warning signs, but its effects are destructive to health. In Serbia, every other citizen suffers from high blood pressure. Health statistics warns that untreated high blood pressure results in 69 percent of heart failures and 84 percent of strokes.
In 2016 alone, 6,639 people died in Serbia as a direct consequence of high blood pressure. In remembrance of those who did not succeed in their battle with this illness, Hemofarm Foundation, at the beginning of the traditional race Trka zadovoljstva within the 31st Belgrade Marathon, launched 6,639 red balloons into the sky above the Serbian capital.
Within the campaign Don’t Let It Burst, yesterday (Sunday, April 22), a concrete step was made preventing hypertension, as citizens in Serbia were able to check their blood pressure for free and get advice from doctors in more than 90 health institutions all over the country within the framework of preventive examinations organized by the Ministry of Health.
On the occasion of the campaign, Don’t Let It Burst, Dr. Ronald Zeliger, Managing Director of Hemofarm, said: “We all like to say ‘it’s better to prevent than to treat’. When talking about high blood pressure, the emphasis should be on prevention – to detect it as soon as possible and immediately prevent severe consequences! This is also the main reason why the Hemofarm Foundation has initiated the establishment of the National Day for Combating High Blood Pressure.”
According to the Minister of Health of Serbia, Dr. Zlatibor Lončar, the introduction of the National Day of Combating Hypertension represents an important step in raising the awareness of the spread of this disease in Serbia and its often fatal consequences. “Untreated high blood pressure leads to visual impairments, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, aneurysm diseases. All these consequences lead to disability or death. They can be successfully prevented by early detection of high blood pressure and regular taking of the therapy prescribed by a physician. So be responsible for your health and protect yourself from illness and suffering.”
In order to help people to recognize hypertension and to fight it efficiently, the Hemofarm Foundation decided to give it color and shape. To this end, in Belgrade, on the Plateau at the Faculty of Philosophy and in the Terazije square, large red balls were placed with messages “Do you feel the pressure?” and “Do you thing it can take it?” The red ball is an art installation made in the likeness of the works by Kurt Perschke and with the permission of this author, and represents each one of us who has elevated blood pressure, stuck in the moment and unaware of the dangers of this serious illness and its consequences. The answer to the previous questions is simple – Don’t let it burst!
