Says four out of every 10 Nigerians are hypertensive
The Nigerian Cardiac Society (NCS) has raised concern over the increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease in Nigeria, driven mostly by an unhealthy lifestyle.
The NCS lamented that four out of every 10 Nigerians are hypertensive, adding that hypertension is the key driver of many cardiovascular diseases.
President of the Society, Prof. Augustine Odili, who raised the alarm while briefing journalists on the 54th yearly general meeting of the NCS and the 17th biennial conference of Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR), scheduled to open on Wednesday in Abuja, observed that the rising incidence of hypertension comes with heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease, among others.
Odili also highlighted the key drivers to include changing lifestyle, as well as people getting bigger and not exercising as much as they should.
He said, "The burden of cardiovascular disease is really an alarming situation, and as a society, we are so worried."
Odili stated that because of the scourge of sudden death in the country, the Society has planned to introduce a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to have a very targeted approach to the issue of sudden death.
He, therefore, called on all Abuja residents to come out en masse to receive free CPR training so that they would be able to handle some of the challenges when they occur.
On her part, a Consultant Cardiologist, Prof. Amam Mbakwem, who highlighted the need to train more experts in the field, considering the huge toll the Japa syndrome is taking on the health sector, lamented that in spite of the increase in the cases of cardiovascular disease in the country, there are only a few cardiologists attending to them.
Also speaking, President of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR), Prof. Elijah Ogola, said that the organisation's target is to improve cardiovascular health in the African continent through continuing medical education of the whole chain of healthcare workers working in the cardiovascular field, as well as public education to prevent cardiovascular diseases.