AN assembly member will next week start a campaign to get 1,000 people tested for high blood pressure during the summer to help prevent stroke.
Joyce Watson has teamed up with stroke charity the Stroke Association to run a summer roadshow across mid and west Wales.
Stroke is the UK’s third biggest killer. The Stroke Association estimates that nearly a quarter of the population are unknowingly suffering from undiagnosed high blood pressure - the single biggest risk factor for stroke.
The Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales is running the blood pressure campaign with a series of testing days across her constituency. As well as free blood pressure checks, staff will offer advice on stroke and its prevention to people of all ages.
Joyce and Stroke Association staff will be at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd on Monday (July 20) from 10am to 5pm.
In addition, Joyce intends to produce a report at the end of the campaign and submit it to the Assembly's health committee which is currently investigating stroke care in Wales. She also plans to organise a testing day for AMs and their staff at the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay.
Trish Hughes, deputy director of the Stroke Association Wales, said: "Stroke does not discriminate and can happen to anyone at any time.
"There is no doubt that blood pressure testing really can save lives. Every five minutes someone in the UK has a stroke - that’s 150,000 every year. But over 40 per cent of those strokes could be prevented by the control of high blood pressure. "
Joyce said: "It is essential that people get tested. We know that many thousands of people are completely unaware of their own blood pressure levels.
"Many of those people have no idea that they have high blood pressure and that their risk of having a stroke is massively increased - I would urge people to take this opportunity to get tested."
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