Over 26% of Ghanaians Have Hypertension – IMaH Cardiologist

 By GNA 

June 22, 2023

Photo: A section of Ghanaians displaying the national colours

About 26.1 percent of the adult population in the country is living with Blood Pressure that is not in the correct range, Dr. Aba Folson, a Cardiologist at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH), Tema, has revealed. 

Dr. Folson added that over 50 per cent of people known to have hypertension were not controlled and stressed.

She noted that most hypertension patients fall under the primary or essential category, which usually occurred because of lifestyle practices.

Dr. Folson said this at the weekly “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy.

Dr. Folson, speaking on the topic “Measure blood pressure accurately, control it, and live longer,” stressed that high blood pressure usually developed due to unhealthy lifestyle choices.

An unhealthy lifestyle choice includes lack of physical activity and health conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

The IMaH Cardiologist said hypertension could be prevented or managed through healthy living and continuous check-ups at health facilities.

Dr. Folson reminded the public that uncontrolled hypertension had a higher risk of causing damage to every organ in the body, including the heart, brain, feet, lever, and eyes, among others.

She, therefore, advised patients to make a conscious effort to control their blood pressure by following the instructions of the doctors and taking their medications, as well as following healthy lifestyles such as exercising, having regular check-ups, eating fruits and vegetables, avoiding excessive consumption of salt and meat, avoiding smoking, and many others.

She said a consistent blood pressure above 140/90 was a cause for concern as that could be diagnosed as hypertension, explaining that the upper reading represents when the heart was pumping blood while the lower measure is for when the heart was relaxing.

She encouraged the public to buy their own automated BP machines or regularly check at pharmacies or hospitals to always be within the accepted rate.

She said issues related to hypertension must be of great concern to all as it is the most influential disease all over the world, adding that it also had a lot of long-term effects on the body.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency Tema, explained that “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility” is part of a collaborative effort to disseminate health information to the public.

He said existing evidence indicated that mass media efforts to improve public health could help increase awareness of a health problem, raise the level of information about health topics, and make a health topic or problem more salient, thereby sensitizing the public.

Mr. Ameyibor, therefore, called on both the traditional and social media managers to devote some time to engage health professionals to educate the public, saying that “the education we offer today through our media platforms may save a life tomorrow.”