HANOI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Some 12 million Vietnamese adults suffer from high blood pressure, said Truong Dinh Bac, deputy head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health (MoH) on Tuesday.

An MoH survey showed that among the high blood pressure patients, up to 60 percent are not detected with the disease and over 80 percent are not treated, said Bac at a seminar on prevention, management of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases held in capital Hanoi.

As many as 79 percent of them face a cardiovascular risk but have not consulted with medical staff and lack preventive management, reported Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA.

In order to address challenges posed by high blood pressure, Vietnam has started implementing preventive measures to manage hypertension, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country's communes' health facilities.

According to Vietnam National Heart Institute, during the 2011-2015 period, over 2 million people aged over 40 had been screened in 1,179 communes and wards nationwide.

A total of 365,000 high blood pressure cases were found, some 49.8 percent of which were for the first time being detected.