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Funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (HKJC), the Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) organised the “May Measurement Month” (MMM) as part of the expanded scope of the Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project. MMM aims to increase public awareness and knowledge of the importance of blood pressure management. Two major events were held by the Faculty of Medicine, including the Kick-Off Ceremony on 4^th May 2019 and the May Measurement Month Academic Symposium on 31^st May 2019. The Symposium was officiated at by Dr CHAN Hon-yee, Director of the Department of Health; Ms. Imelda CHAN, HKJC Head of Charities (Grant Making – Elderly, Rehabilitation, Medical, Environmental & Family), and Professor FOK Tai-fai, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of CUHK.

Prof. TSOI Kam Fai, Research Associate Professor from the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care (SPHPC), delivered a welcome speech at the ceremony. He said, “Blood pressure is an important index preventing and managing cardiovascular diseases, which means blood pressure measurement is a simple method of quick detection of the physical condition. Building a habit of regular blood pressure measurement will help self-health management and help healthcare professionals understand one’s health condition better, which leads to better control of chronic diseases.”

Prof. LEE Kam-pui, Assistant Professor from SPHPC, explained the global standard measurement of blood pressure (to measure 3 times with 1 min interval between each time) from the International Society of Hypertension (ISH), and demonstrated the correct procedures and postures for blood pressure measurement with artist Mr. LEE Lam Yan, one of the honorary guests of the ceremony.

MMM volunteers provided free public blood pressure screening using the global standard of blood pressure measurement to members of the public. According to the blood pressure screening at the Kick-Off Ceremony, 23.3% of the participants were identified with undiagnosed hypertension. Among them, 54.4% were aged between 40 to 64, 76.9% of them did not drink alcohol, 74.4% of them exercised at least once a week, 97.7% and 90.4% had never been diagnosed with stroke and diabetes respectively. Health promoting booths were set up beside the screening test area, with a registered dietitian providing diet consultation for better blood pressure control. Drug knowledge, chronic diseases management, and a cancer prevention plan were shared by registered pharmacist.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the Global Monitoring Framework for the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases. One of the major goals is to stop the increasing hypertension rate among citizens. Responding to the appeal of WHO regarding the goal of promoting blood pressure management, the Faculty of Medicine invited various overseas and local experts and professionals to explore how to raise public awareness towards self-blood pressure management. Scholars from the United States, mainland China, Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong shared their experiences, brainstorming a new direction for the self-blood pressure management model. Dr. CHAN Hon-yee expressed her full support for the symposium, highlighting that self-blood pressure screening and management is a key to control hypertension. Prof. FOK Tai-fai hoped that the symposium would act as a prelude to the exploration of self-blood pressure monitoring. HKJC believed that expanding the digital health management project would help the public to build up habits of self-health management. 

The symposium ended successfully after a forward-looking discussion led by all-academic professionals. They analysed the recent international situation of self-blood pressure management, explored effective promotion for the development of Hong Kong Primary Care and discussed how to improve the allocation of resources of the public healthcare system and adopt digitalised blood pressure management wisely with the participants (mainly medical professionals and community services workers). Taking overseas cases as examples, a thorough discussion was conducted through the symposium, which will bring benefits to Hong Kong’s healthcare system. Cooperation between medical and various social sectors will be much more effective in meeting public demand for healthcare.