Rise in heart diseases among children worrying — Experts

Two Health specialists at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital have expressed worry about the increasing rate of cardiovascular diseases, especially, high blood pressure, among children.

According to Dr Patrick Adjei, consultant neurologist, and Dr Vincent Boima, kidney disease specialist, obesity is also quite common among children and a lot of young children have become fat and obese and are at the risk of suffering stroke, heart attacks and diabetes.

The health experts expressed these sentiments at the annual cardiovascular disease summit in Accra.

Organised by Pfizer Ghana, a pharmaceutical company, the summit brought together about 200 healthcare practitioners from Nigeria and Ghana.

It provided an avenue for the healthcare workers to engage in robust discussions on the latest trends in cardiovascular disease and its management.

The summit was also to encourage the use of general treatment guidelines and recommendations for the management of patients with cardiovascular disease.

Awareness creation

Dr Adjei said there was the need to create the awareness to reduce the incidence of  heart-related diseases and urged Ghanaians to engage in physical activities, particularly exercises, reduce the intake of oily food, and have regular and yearly checks of their blood pressure.

He said the summit served as a continuous professional education and  training platform for the clinicians to be abreast of standard practice.

Dr Boima also indicated that cardiovascular diseases were the top killers in the world.

He said other strategies recommended for the fight against cardiovascular diseases included control of high cholesterol levels and the eating of healthy foods.

According to Dr Boima, the excessive intake of salt and abuse of alcohol could affect the health of any individual. 

Pfizer’s contribution

A Senior Regional Medical Director of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Dr Iqbal Omar, said the summit formed part of Pfizer’s contribution to the advancement of medical knowledge and patient care in Ghana and Africa.

“This further exemplifies the commitment of Pfizer to world- class medical education, capacity building and excellence in service to the Ghanaian health sector,” he said.

Dr Omar, therefore, pledged Pfizer’s commitment towards setting the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines for people and animals.