Published: 11:18 PM, 28 September 2026
Call for increased funding to reduce heart disease risk among youths
Hypertension-related heart disease is one of the leading causes of premature deaths in Bangladesh and around the world, while the growing risk of hypertension and heart disease, particularly among young people, is deeply alarming, speakers said at a webinar on Monday.
They also said budgetary allocation for addressing these issues remains very low and stressed that allocating a significant portion of the increased health budget to hypertension control could substantially reduce premature deaths from heart disease.
They made the observations at a webinar titled "Health Budget to Address Hypertension and Heart Disease Risk Among Young People: Bangladesh Perspective," organized by research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), on the occasion of World Heart Day 2026.
World Heart Day will be observed on Tuesday, Sept 29, under the theme "Heart Disease Can Hide in Plain Sight: Don't Miss a Beat."
Speakers highlighted that around 6.5 million people die prematurely from heart disease worldwide every year, with hypertension being one of its major causes.
In Bangladesh, deaths from heart disease are also rising at an alarming rate, accounting for approximately 34 percent of all deaths in the country.
In 2024, around 283,800 people died from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh, with hypertension accounting for 52 percent of these deaths, they said.
Of particular concern is that a significant proportion of these deaths are premature. According to the Bangladesh NCD STEPS Survey 2018, approximately 12 percent of the population aged 18-39 years have hypertension.
Professor Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury, Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, said the increase in the health sector budget allocation from 5.3 percent to 7.4 percent in the current fiscal year is "truly commendable."
"Directing a notable portion of this extra allocation toward anti-hypertensive medicine will effectively lower the risk of hypertension-linked heart diseases in the country," he said.
Dr Md Maruf Haque Khan,Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health and Informatics, Bangladesh Medical University, said awareness regarding healthy dietary practices and lifestyle must be increased to reduce the risk of hypertension-related heart disease.
Sajjadur Rahman, Deputy Editor of The Business Standard, said extensive campaigns across mass media and social media platforms are needed to raise awareness among youth about the risk of hypertension-related heart disease.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh Country Lead of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, said non-communicable diseases account for 71 percent of all deaths in the country, yet only 4.2 percent of the health budget is allocated to this sector.
"Funding must be increased to control hypertension and other non-communicable diseases," he said.
S M Nazer Hossain, Vice President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), and Aminul Islam Sujan, Consultant at Vital Strategies, also participated in the webinar as discussants.
The webinar was presided over by ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA, and moderated by Samiha Bintay Kamal, Program Officer at PROGGA.
Participants from diverse professional backgrounds across various regions of the country, alongside youth organizations such as the Bangladesh Medical Students' Society and Platform Doctors Foundation, attended the webinar.
