22 Oct 2025: Congratulations to the Croatian Hypertension League (CHL) who organised a successful public health campaign on the island of Dugi Otok, Croatia, this summer, which screened members of the public for high blood pressure and other cardio-kidney-metabolic risk factors.

The campaign, in August 2025, was part of the long-lasting ‘Hunting the silent killer’ initiative organised by the CHL which aims at early detection of high blood pressure and increased public awareness around hypertension, dyslipidemia and other most important non-communicable diseases (NCD).

The Dugi Otok campaign was run by 25 volunteers including 20 medical students from Croatian universities.

During the five-day campaign, almost 300 members of the public had a comprehensive assessment of their cardio-kidney-metabolic health through blood and urine tests, blood pressure measurements, ECG, Pulse Wave Velocity and metabolic scale.

The results of blood and urine tests were sent to local physicians who could act on any clinical findings.

Marta Bolješić Dumančić from the CHL, part of the team which led the campaign, said: “We wanted to raise public awareness of the importance of prevention, provide free health screenings, and educate the local population on healthy lifestyle habits that can reduce the risk of NCDs.

“We were keen to include the island of Dugi Otok in this year’s campaign, as island communities in Croatia typically have less access to healthcare.

“The campaign was a big success. Local residents expressed great satisfaction with the campaign, and said they would like it to be repeated annually. The team running the campaign, medical students and young residents, reported significant satisfaction too, saying that the campaign helped them develop practical skills and confidence in patient interactions.”.