This document discusses the epidemiology of hypertension globally and nationally in India. Some key points: - Globally, nearly 1 billion adults had hypertension in 2000, predicted to increase to 1.56 billion by 2025. Hypertension contributes to 13% of global deaths. - In India, the prevalence of hypertension has risen from 2-15% in urban areas and 2-8% in rural areas in the late 1990s/early 2000s to approximately 25% in urban adults and 10-15% in rural adults currently. - Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in India, responsible for over 2 million deaths annually according to recent reports. There are large regional variations in cardiovascular mortality within