Everyone over the age of 40 in England will be able to have their blood pressure checked for free in High Street chemists from October.
Officials say the NHS scheme could save around 2,000 lives in the next five years by detecting and then treating high blood pressure before it causes strokes and heart attacks.
An estimated 4.8m people in the UK are living with undiagnosed hypertension.
It rarely has noticeable symptoms which is why it is important to run checks.