Know Your Numbers! Week 2025: A Nation Comes Together to Check Blood Pressure
This year’s Know Your Numbers! Week (8-14 September), the UK’s biggest free blood pressure testing and awareness campaign, saw events taking place across the country - from community pharmacies and GP surgeries to workplaces and high streets.
. The campaign reached millions through national press coverage and radio interviews, uniting the nation in the call to “Know Your Numbers!”.
The week kicked off with new research from Blood Pressure UK highlighting a worrying disconnect between awareness and action. More than four in ten UK adults (43%) don’t know their current blood pressure, and nearly a third (31%) don’t check it regularly - despite high blood pressure being the biggest preventable cause of death in the UK.
While most people understand the risks - 84% recognise the link to heart attacks and 79% to strokes - only 11% know that adults over 40 should check their blood pressure once a year. Almost half of those surveyed (49%) wrongly believe high blood pressure comes with clear symptoms, when in fact it is often completely silent until it causes serious harm. Worryingly, just one in four (26%) are aware of its impact on kidney health.
With around 4.2 million people unknowingly living with high blood pressure, the campaign focused on locating the “Missing Millions.” Blood Pressure UK urged everyone over 40 to get checked, whether at home with a monitor, in a pharmacy, or by their GP.
Dr Pauline Swift, Chair of Blood Pressure UK, called the findings a “wake-up call,” and reminded the public that even one small lifestyle change - like cutting back on salt or walking more - can help save lives.
Know Your Numbers! Week once again underlined a simple truth: knowing your blood pressure could be the most important step you take for your health.#
