Doctors train to treat hypertension

According to Anzhen Hospital's Yu, various programs - including lectures and on-the-job training - are conducted at the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, where the center is located.

Notably, a telemedicine system will be used to help deliver the training to as many doctors as possible, particularly those at grassroots-level medical facilities that are hard to reach, said Liu Jian, who heads the hospital.

Yu will also travel to other lower-level hospitals to see patients and help train doctors there, he said.

Related specialties, such as kidney disease, endocrinology, the nervous system and maternity, will be covered in the training as well, said Yu, who first introduced the concept of a complex control approach to hypertension in the country.

As all these specialties are interrelated, he said, "getting hypertension under control helps with intervention in heart disease". He added that intervention in hypertension plays a role in early detection and prevention of stroke.

Nationwide, China has 270 million hypertension patients, and the condition continues to become more widespread, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. About 46 percent of the sufferers are aware of their condition, and 41 percent receive treatment. However, only 14 percent have their blood pressure under control.