A QUIET EMERGENCY
Hypertension as the Top 1 Health Problem in Barangay Logan
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In Logan, illness does not always arrive with urgency, rather it comes quietly between farm work and meals, between conversations and rest. People rarely rush to the health center unless symptoms interrupt daily life. And when they do, it is usually for something simple: a headache, dizziness, or a feeling they cannot quite explain. But when their blood pressure is checked, the numbers tell a different story.
During community screening, elevated readings appeared again and again, values far above normal, some reaching levels associated with stroke and heart disease. What was once perceived as an occasional finding revealed itself as a pattern. Hypertension, previously hidden behind vague symptoms and resignation, surfaced as one of the most widespread and persistent conditions in the barangay.
Why Hypertension Became our Top Priority
Why Hypertension Became our Top Priority
Among the eleven health problems initially identified in Barangay Logan, hypertension consistently ranked highest during the prioritization process. This was not only because of how many people were affected, but because of how deeply it intersected with mortality, behavior, and access to care. Our primary survey data showed that 82 out of 145 screened individuals were hypertensive and 36 of them were uncontrolled, translating to 56.6% prevalence that is significantly higher than national estimates. Yet when compared with Rural Health Unit records, only 26 cases were officially documented. This discrepancy pointed to a critical gap: many cases remain undetected, unmanaged, or lost to follow-up. Not because the heath workers are not doing their job, but the community has a lingering fear in knowing the truth behind the numbers.
Mortality data further reinforced the urgency. From 2022 to 2024, the majority of recorded deaths in Barangay Logan were due to non-communicable diseases, including chronic heart disease, presumed myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, and hypertension itself. These are conditions strongly linked to long-standing, poorly controlled high blood pressure. In short, hypertension did not simply affect many, but it quietly contributed to the most serious outcomes.
How Hypertension Becomes a Community Problem
How Hypertension Becomes a Community Problem
What makes hypertension particularly dangerous in Logan is not a lack of awareness, but normalization. Most hypertensive respondents knew that high blood pressure could lead to stroke or heart disease. However, only 21% were adherent to prescribed antihypertensive medications. Many stopped taking medicines once symptoms subsided, others cited side effects or cost, and some preferred herbal remedies such as garlic or guyabano leaves.
Dietary practices further compounded the problem. Nearly all hypertensive individuals reported daily consumption of salty food, while two-thirds were smokers, and only a small proportion engaged in regular physical activity. These behaviors were not isolated choices but reflections of culture, habit, and limited alternatives.
Access also played a role. Logan lacks a permanent physician and has fewer Barangay Health Workers than recommended by the Department of Health. Blood pressure monitoring is inconsistent, follow-up is irregular, and continuity of care is difficult to maintain, especially for a chronic disease that requires lifelong management. In this context, hypertension becomes more than a diagnosis. It becomes part of daily life that is tolerated, unmanaged, and often ignored until complications occur.
From Assessment to Action: What We Plan to Do
From Assessment to Action: What We Plan to Do
Recognizing hypertension as the top health problem was not the endpoint, but it was only the starting point for our team. The Community Health Plan prioritizes hypertension with the goal of interrupting this cycle of normalization and neglect. Using the PROCEED framework, interventions are designed to address not only medical management, but also behavioral, structural, and system-level barriers.
Planned strategies include strengthening regular blood pressure screening through trained Barangay Health Workers, improving documentation and referral pathways, and enhancing health education that emphasizes hypertension as a chronic, often silent condition requiring continuous care. Particular attention is given to medication ad herence by addressing misconceptions, side effects, and cost-related concerns through counseling and linkages to available health programs.
Rather than relying solely on episodic consultations, the plan focuses on community-based monitoring, where blood pressure checks and follow-up become routine, accessible, and familiar. By empowering local health workers and aligning interventions with cultural practices, the program aims to make hypertension management sustainable beyond the duration of student involvement.
Hypertension rose to the top not because it was dramatic, but because it was everywhere. It quietly affected adults in their productive years, contributed to preventable deaths, and strained a health system already limited by manpower and distance. In Barangay Logan, the danger is not ignorance but acceptance. Addressing hypertension means challenging the belief that feeling “okay” is enough, and replacing it with the understanding that prevention and control must happen long before complications appear. Through consistent monitoring, community trust, and sustained engagement, hypertension can shift from being a silent norm to a manageable condition. And that shift, more than any single intervention, is what this plan ultimately aims to achieve.
From a quiet emergency to a loud recognition, TopSiLogan aims to end uncontrolled hypertension.
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