A warning from the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCC) could not have been more blunt, nor more timely.
Speaking at the launch of World Heart Day 2026 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Chief Executive of the Centre, Dr Ekow Entsua-Mensah, reminded the nation of an uncomfortable truth: heart disease can hide in plain sight for years, without obvious symptoms, while quietly damaging the body beyond repair.
This year's theme, "Heart Disease Can Hide in Plain Sight, Don't Miss a Beat," is not just a slogan for a health day.
It is a national alarm. For too long in Ghana, our health conversation has been dominated by infectious diseases — malaria, cholera, COVID-19.
While those remain important, the epidemiological transition is complete.
Non-communicable diseases, led by cardiovascular diseases, are now killing more Ghanaians, more silently, and more expensively than many infectious diseases.
Cardiovascular diseases are now a major public health crisis.
As Dr Entsua-Mensah rightly noted, it cannot be overcome by the health sector alone.
Consider what the Centre is telling us.
Hypertension — high blood pressure — is one of the most important risk factors for stroke, heart failure and heart attack.
It can exist for 10 years without headache, dizziness or any warning sign.
By the time it shows itself as a stroke at age 45, the damage is done.
The same applies to diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, tobacco use and harmful alcohol consumption.
They do not knock on the door.
They erode the blood vessels, stiffen the heart and clog the arteries long before the individual knows they are in danger.
The sad reality is that most Ghanaians only check their blood pressure when they are already sick and taken to the hospital.
We have no culture of regular screening.
A 35-year-old commercial driver who has never checked his pressure, a 40-year-old trader who lives on fried foods and sugary drinks daily, a young executive who sits 12 hours a day, drinks heavily on weekends and considers exercise a luxury — these are the faces of the looming crisis.
The data from Korle Bu, Komfo Anokye and the NCC itself show the consequences: more young Ghanaians below 50 presenting with stroke, heart failure and kidney failure from uncontrolled hypertension; more cases of diabetic foot; more cases of sudden death at home that are never diagnosed.
We cannot continue to eat our way to an early grave.
The Ghanaian diet is increasingly shifting to ultra-processed foods, excessive salt, excessive oil, sugary drinks and alcohol, with minimal fruits and vegetables.
Our cities are designed to discourage walking.
Our children spend more time on screens than on playgrounds.
The fight against heart disease must be fought in the kitchen, on the streets and in schools.
We need to revive physical education, create safe walking spaces, and tax unhealthy products while subsidising healthy choices.
The National Cardiothoracic Centre cannot do this alone.
Workplace and institutional screening.
Public and private institutions must make annual medical screening mandatory and not punitive.
The driver who does not know his blood pressure is a risk not only to himself but to his passengers.
The teacher who does not know his sugar level will collapse in class.
The Ministry of Health must work with employers to make screening a routine occupational health requirement, with confidentiality and referral systems.
Government, for its part, must strengthen primary healthcare to carry this burden.
The newly launched Free Primary Healthcare programme must prioritise non-communicable disease screening as a core package.
Every CHPS compound must have a functional blood pressure apparatus, a glucometer and trained staff to interpret results.
The National Health Insurance Scheme must fully cover basic cardiovascular medicines — many patients abandon treatment because anti-hypertensives are expensive.
We must demystify heart disease. It is not a disease of the rich or the old. It is a disease of lifestyle, and lifestyle can be changed.
As we approach World Heart Day on September 29, let us take this message personally.
Do not wait for chest pain to know your heart. Do not wait for a stroke to know your blood pressure.
In a country where we have normalised funerals for 40-year-olds from "sudden" illness, we must accept that there is nothing sudden about a disease that hid in plain sight for 10 years.
Don't miss a beat. Check your heart today.
