NYC Health Dept. to supply free blood pressure monitors to pharmacies

NEW YORK The New York City Health Department is delivering free blood pressure machines to pharmacies in neighborhoods with residents suffering from the highest rates of hypertension, according to AM New York, a local newspaper.

The health department is providing the machines as part of a pilot program that went into effect in Harlem in the summer. The South Bronx and Brooklyn will be getting the machines in the next few weeks.

The agency says one in three people in Harlem, the South Bronx and in parts of Brooklyn suffer from high blood pressure. With no symptoms, it states, getting checked is the only way to know if someone has high blood pressure.