Hypertension: ‘Why blood pressure measurement needs to be prioritised’

FOLLOWING the high incidence of hypertension in patients that register for free health care, coordinator, Omituntun Free medical Mission, Dr Wale Falana says individuals whose relatives are hypertensive should prioritise blood pressure measurement to avoid also falling prey to the silent killer.

Falana, speaking at the opening of a free medical mission at General Hospital, Iwere-Ile, said hypertension remains the topmost non-communicable disease in all the communities the health mission had visited.

The Omituntun Free medical Mission, which started in 2020, is the state government’s intervention to ensure individuals get free treatment and surgery at their doorstep and stop increasing cases of quackery particular in the community.

Dr Falana said except individuals that are 18 years and above regularly check their blood pressure, they would not be aware they had developed high blood pressure, a condition that sometimes runs in families, or prevent complications like stroke and heart attack.

He stated, “a raised blood pressure targets organs like the heart, kidney and the brain. You will not know if your blood pressure is high except you check it. That is why it is called the silent killer.”

The medical expert said that this second quarter the free medical mission had provided comprehensive health care and surgery, including dental and eye care, medicines, and reading glasses to over 200,000 individuals.

According to him, “We found a lot of dental cases, even a six-year-old boy that the quack said his teeth were brown and they should be removed. We found out that it was not necessary. If not for this programme, they would have removed all the boy’s teeth.”

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