A blood pressure and stroke awareness day is being held at the Merrion Centre for the first time this weekend.
Hosted by the Rotary Club of Leeds, the “Know Your Blood Pressure” event will offer free blood pressure checks and health advice to shoppers on 24th October from 10.30am to 4.30pm in the run-up to World Stroke Day.
If the result is found to be abnormal, the Rotary Club will refer the shopper on to their GP for a full check-up either within a week or two (depending on the urgency of the situation).
Roger Ehrlich from the Rotary Club of Leeds explained: “An abnormal blood pressure could predispose a sudden stroke. We hope that we can motivate the general public to be aware of this fact which could in turn help save a life.”
Earlier this year, the NHS Trust in Leeds selected the Merrion Centre as the site for a new health centre in a multi-million pound deal.
Edward Ziff, chairman and chief executive of TCS, said: “My father, Arnold was a proud and active member of the Rotary Club of Leeds and was a great believer in giving back to the community, we’re delighted to join forces with this organisation in a bid to raise awareness of high blood pressure and the detrimental effect it can have.”
Councillor, Judith Chapman, the Lord Mayor of Leeds will be attending during the afternoon and will be having her blood pressure checked in the Merrion Centre, highlighting the importance of the organised event.
It is estimated that around 16 million people in the UK have high blood pressure and around a third are unaware of this. At least 40 per cent of strokes could be prevented each year if people checked their blood pressure and took steps to control it. Last year more than 30,000 people were checked at Know Your Blood Pressure events and of those, 4,000 were found to have high blood pressure.
World Stroke Day, established by the World Stroke Organisation in 2006, is observed worldwide on 29th October to highlight the serious nature and high rates of stroke, raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of the condition, and ensure better care and support for survivors.