Some 200 million people, or 15 percent of the Chinese population, are suffering high blood pressure, China's Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

However, only 30 percent of the patients knew about their disease, 25 percent sought treatment and only a meager 6 percent got their disease under control, the ministry said on its website.

The ministry said such an unsatisfactory status-quo was resulted from the patients' lack of knowledge of their blood pressure condition. Many people never monitored their blood pressure, and some didn't find the disease until cerebral hemorrhage occurred.

The ministry urged the public to care for themselves and frequently monitor their blood pressure so as to better understand their health condition and voluntarily seek treatment.

A 2007 survey of 9,900 high blood pressure patients in Beijing found that only 30 percent measured their blood pressure at home.

To encourage more people to self monitor their blood pressure at home, the ministry has decided to observe the 11th National High Blood Pressure Day, which falls on October 8, under the theme of "Home Self-Monitoring" and launch a series of promotional activities.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)