NEW
DELHI, INDIA, 13 August 2026 : Voice of Healthcare (VOH) today announced
the conclusion of its milestone national roundtable summit, bringing together
leading national healthcare experts to address the critical public health
challenge of persistently uncontrolled hypertension. The summit, titled
“Persistently Uncontrolled Hypertension: From Recognition to Mechanism-Driven
Care in India,” held at Le Méridien, New Delhi, established a scalable,
evidence-informed framework for national hypertension care.
Hypertension
remains a leading driver of chronic kidney disease (CKD), stroke,
cardiovascular events, and premature mortality in India. As healthcare systems
evolve, clinical experts and leading medical bodies are calling for a vital
paradigm shift from a purely blood-pressurenumber-driven approach to
personalized, mechanism-driven care to halt progressive organ damage.
The
roundtable featured distinct keynotes and insight addresses from national
scientific, digital health, and state administrative leaders, framing the scale
of the challenge and establishing the policy directions for intervention.
The
roundtable commenced with a context-setting session moderated by Dr. P.
Ganeshkumar, Scientist E and Head, Division of Non-Communicable Diseases
(NCDs), ICMR–National Institute of Epidemiology. Setting the tone for the
discussions, Dr. Ganeshkumar highlighted the growing burden of persistently
uncontrolled hypertension in India, noting that despite significant progress
under the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI), blood pressure control
remains suboptimal. He emphasised that "It is time we move beyond merely
identifying the problem. Our focus must now shift to mechanism-driven
diagnosis, implementation research, and evidence-based interventions that can
translate into better long-term outcomes for patients with persistently
uncontrolled hypertension”.
Following
up, offering a state-level perspective, Dr. Suman Singh, Director of Health
Services and Managing Director, NHM Chandigarh, highlighted Chandigarh's
progress in strengthening primary healthcare through universal enrolment under
the National Programme for Prevention and Control of NCDs and routine blood
pressure screening for all OPD patients. She also noted the rising incidence of
hypertension among younger adults and shared Chandigarh's innovative 24×7
Geriatric Care mobile ambulance model, which delivers screening, treatment, and
counselling to elderly and homebound patients. She concluded that,
"Hypertension is no longer a disease of old age. We are increasingly
seeing younger individuals presenting with uncontrolled blood pressure, making
early screening and accessible community-based care more important than ever”.
Highlighting
the role of digital health in improving hypertension care, Dr. Pankaj Arora,
Director of Adoption, National Health Authority (NHA), showcased how the
Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) and AI-enabled Clinical Decision Support
Systems (CDSS) are strengthening clinical decision-making. He explained that
the platform provides healthcare professionals with real-time, evidence-based
treatment recommendations and safety alerts, enabling more personalized,
accurate, and safer hypertension management across healthcare settings.
"Digital health is no longer just about digitizing records—it is about
enabling clinicians to make timely, evidence-based decisions that improve
patient safety and longterm outcomes," said Dr. Pankaj Arora.
To
provide a health systems perspective, Dr. Roopa Shivashankar, Scientist-F,
Division of Delivery Research, ICMR Headquarters, highlighted that hypertension
control in India remains low due to clinical inertia, treatment adherence
challenges, and systemic barriers. She emphasized the need for patient-centric
care models, including longer medication refill cycles for stable patients, and
outlined ongoing ICMR research initiatives focused on strengthening primary
care, community engagement, and digital implementation to improve hypertension
outcomes. "Improving hypertension control requires addressing not only
patient-related factors but also clinical inertia and health system gaps
through evidence-based implementation research and patient-centric care
models," said Dr. Roopa Shivashankar.
Dr.
Vimal Mehta, Professor, Department of Cardiology, Maulana Azad Medical College,
Govt. of NCT of Delhi, highlighted the need to shift the focus from managing
established disease to preventing its progression. He emphasized that greater
attention must be given to people with prediabetes and prehypertension,
particularly younger populations, through early screening and preventive
interventions. He concluded that, ‘’We are looking in the wrong direction if we
focus only on treating diabetes and hypertension. The real opportunity lies in
identifying prediabetes and prehypertension early and preventing their
progression. We need to start screening younger populations and build
prevention into the way we approach these growing health challenges’’.
The
subsequent panel discussion, featuring Dr. Ashwani Gupta, Dr. Sanjeev Gulati,
Dr. Sandeep Bansal, Dr. Vimal Mehta, Mr. Aseem Garg, Dr. Sandeep Arora, Dr. V.
Prakash, Dr. K. Madan Gopal, Mr. Shantanu Saha, Ms. Nupur Lalvani, and Mr. Ram
Khandelwal, explored the clinical, economic, and patient-centred dimensions of
persistently uncontrolled hypertension.
The
experts collectively emphasized the need for earlier identification of
secondary hypertension, particularly primary aldosteronism, strengthened
cardiorenal risk assessment, wider adoption of validated blood pressure
measurement practices, evidence-based treatment pathways, and greater
participation in India-specific clinical research.
The
discussion also highlighted the importance of investing in preventive
healthcare, improving referral systems, leveraging digital health solutions,
and generating robust local evidence to support mechanism-driven hypertension
management.
The
panel further underscored that sustainable hypertension control requires active
patient participation through improved health literacy, treatment adherence,
routine health screening, supportive communities, and collaborative action
between clinicians, policymakers, researchers, and patient advocacy groups to
reduce the growing burden of cardiovascular and kidney diseases.
Distinguished
Participants
The
roundtable was attended by a distinguished group of experts, policymakers,
clinicians, patient advocates, and industry leaders, including:
Dr.
Suman Singh – Director, Health & Family Welfare, UT Chandigarh
Dr.
Pankaj Arora – Director, Adoption, National Health Authority
Dr.
Roopa Shivashankar – Scientist-F, Division of Delivery Research, ICMR
Headquarters, New Delhi
Dr.
P. Ganeshkumar – Scientist E & Head, Division of Noncommunicable Diseases,
ICMR – National Institute of Epidemiology
Dr.
Prakash Venkatesan – Deputy Director, National Health Mission, Chennai
Dr.
K. Madan Gopal – Senior Health Sector Expert; Former Senior Consultant
(Health), NITI Aayog
Dr.
Ashwani Gupta – President, Indian Society of Nephrology; Co-Chairman,
Department of Nephrology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi
Dr.
A. Muruganathan – Vice President, Indian Society of Hypertension; Director,
Physician Research Foundation (PRF)
Dr.
Praveen Aswal – Additional Director (RH), Department of Medical, Health &
Family Welfare, Government of Rajasthan
Dr.
Tina Rawal – Senior Research Scientist, Public Health Foundation of India
(PHFI)
Dr.
Abhishek Kunwar – National Professional Officer – Non-Communicable Diseases,
World Health Organization Country Office for India
Dr.
Sandeep Bansal – Professor & Head, Department of Cardiology, VMCC &
Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi
Dr.
Vimal Mehta – Professor, Department of Cardiology, Maulana Azad Medical College,
Government of NCT of Delhi
Dr.
Sanjeev Gulati – Chairman, Nephrology and Kidney Transplant, Fortis Hospitals
Group, New Delhi
Dr.
Sandeep Arora – Country Medical Director, Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca India
Mr.
Aseem Garg – Founder, DCDC Kidney Care Network
Dr.
Ashish Srivastava – Associate Director & Country Lead, Monitoring,
Evaluation and Research, Jhpiego India
Dr.
Ajay Patle – Deputy Director – Health Systems, PATH
Dr.
Vineet Srivastava – Senior Director, NCD Programs, Jhpiego India
Dr.
Jatin Thakkar – Medical Officer – Integrated People-Centric NCD Service
Delivery, WHO India
Mr.
Shantanu Saha – Former Director – Public Policy, Kidney Warriors Foundation
Ms.
Nupur Lalvani – Founder Director, Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation
Mr.
Ram Khandelwal – Founder, Heart Health India Foundation
Dr.
Imran Hafeez – Additional Professor of Interventional Cardiology, SKIMS,
Srinagar; Cofounder, Save Heart Kashmir Initiative
Dr.
Praveen Mittal – Director – Corporate Affairs, AstraZeneca India
This
roundtable marks a significant and necessary step in VOH's commitment to
elevating India's most pressing healthcare conversations. Voice of Healthcare
will continue to facilitate evidence-based dialogue, policy advocacy, and
public awareness on hypertension and non-communicable disease management across
India.