High blood pressure is a serious health issue in Australia. About one in three adults is living with it. It can lead to major problems like heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.
A report from 2017–2018 showed that only one-third of people with high blood pressure were keeping it under control.
That means two out of three people were not getting the care they needed—and this has been a problem for over a decade.
Now, researchers from The George Institute for Global Health may have found a better way to treat high blood pressure. They’ve developed something called the “quadpill.” It’s a single pill that combines small doses of four different, low-cost blood pressure medicines.
Dr. Emily Atkins, who led the study, believes this could be a major step forward. She explained that blood pressure treatment in Australia hasn’t improved much over the years, so a fresh approach is needed.
To see how effective the quadpill is, the research team studied 591 adults with high blood pressure from ten clinics across Australia. Half of the participants took the quadpill, and the other half took a standard single medication.
The team looked at how much the treatments cost and how well they worked in preventing heart-related problems like heart attacks and strokes. They found that while the quadpill cost slightly more—about $342 for 12 weeks compared to $277 for the single drug—the benefits were worth it.
The quadpill reduced the risk of serious health issues, and researchers estimated that it would cost about $14,000 for every extra year of healthy life it provided. That might sound like a lot, but it’s considered a good deal in healthcare.
Even better, upcoming changes in Australia’s prescription rules could make the quadpill cheaper. A new policy will allow patients to get a 60-day supply of medicine. Dr. Atkins says that if this were extended to 90 days, the cost per extra healthy year could drop to around $2,000.
She also noted that if the quadpill could be sold for less than 45 cents a day, it would be even more cost-effective than the treatments we have now. Starting patients on this kind of pill could change how doctors manage high blood pressure and help more Australians stay healthy at a reasonable cost.
If you or someone you know has high blood pressure, keep an eye on new research about the quadpill. It could become an important new tool in the fight against this common condition.
The full study was published in the Heart journal.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies that turmeric and vitamin D may boost blood pressure control in type 2 diabetes and scientists find link between blood pressure drugs and bowel diseases.
For more about blood pressure, please read studies about high blood pressure treatment: ARBs vs. ACE inhibitors and blood pressure response to exercise can predict future heart disease.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
