National Hypertension Taskforce calls for intensified action to improve blood pressure control

By Rebecca Jenkins

National blood pressure (BP) control rates are improving but intensified action is needed to reach the many Australians still living with uncontrolled hypertension, experts say.

In an update on hypertension prevalence, treatment and control rates published in the Journal of Hypertension, the National Hypertension Taskforce reported that the hypertension control rate was 39.6% in 2022 to 2023.

This figure, drawn from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s latest National Health Survey, was an almost 8% increase in the 32% BP control rate recorded in 2017 to 2018.

The Taskforce members said this was perhaps a promising signal that national efforts to improve BP control were starting to make a difference, ‘though there is still a significant gap before the Hypertension Taskforce’s goal of achieving 70% BP control by 2030 can be met,’ they wrote.

They also noted that hypertension prevalence had increased nationally from 33.7% to 39.4%, reflecting an estimated total of more than seven million Australians.

Compared with the general population, the age-standardised prevalence among First Nations people was higher (37.8% compared with 35%) and the age-standardised control rate was lower (22.2% compared with 31.1%).

Younger individuals and those in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas also had substantially lower control rates, highlighting the need for greater equity to achieve the Taskforce’s 2030 target, the update concluded.

Speaking to Medicine Today in a personal capacity, Taskforce member Professor Mark Nelson, Chair of General Practice, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, said hypertension detection was reliant on good screening.

‘But measurement is only useful if you act: once found, high blood pressure and/or high CVD risk needs action,’ he said.

Firstly, any underlying treatable condition driving the raised BP needed to be identified and appropriately treated.

Secondly, any adverse lifestyle factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, needed to be addressed.

‘Thirdly, rational prescribing of pharmacotherapy will significantly reduce BP; treat to target, don’t accept near enough as good enough,’ Professor Nelson said.

The Taskforce update came as an Australian meta-analysis of 716 short-term randomised trials found hypertension medication side effects varied by drug class and regimen.

The study, published in JAMA, found the best tolerated treatment was a two-drug combination of an angiotensin II receptor blocker plus a calcium channel blocker.

Four of the five best tolerated regimens contained angiotensin II receptor blockers.

In addition, some combination therapies were better tolerated than monotherapy or placebo, which the authors said suggested a net symptomatic improvement.

Professor Nelson said the findings reinforced the strategy of initiating with combination low-dose BP-lowering therapy to maximise efficacy and minimise adverse effects.

‘When prescribing, informing patients of likely adverse effects and that they may be transitory will help them stay on them,’ he said, noting that not all symptoms were causally related to prescribing.

However, the ‘real art’ when it came to prescribing these medications was selling the need for lifelong therapy for an essentially asymptomatic condition.

‘This is where informing the patient and shared decision-making and your ongoing relationship shine through,’ he said.

J Hypertens 2026; doi: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000004358,
and JAMA 2026; doi: 10.1001/jama.2026.6214.