‘Increasing cases of heart problems worrisome’

The Kogi State Governor’s wife, Rashida Bello, has expressed worries over the increasing rate of heart failure and other heart-related diseases in the country.

She said there was the need for government at various levels to initiate policies and programmes through which people could be sensitised in order to reduce the menace in the society.

Mrs Bello who spoke in Lokoja at a programme organised to mark the World Heart Day with the theme: “Power Your Life”, also tasked the people, particularly women, to eat heathy diet and engage in regular exercises to prevent heart related disease.

According to her, the call was imperative because of the death of over one million people annually arising from heart related diseases.

She said her pet project, the Kogi Women and Advancement Foundation (KOWYAF) would collaborate with international organisations like the WHO and other indigenous organisations to encourage Kogi people to eat and live well.

According to her, “It is not enough for the state government to provide health care facilities, it is also of great importance that the people live a healthy life style by eating right and engaging in body building exercises to prevent heart related diseases and other dangerous ailments.

“Our world is threatened by heart diseases and cardiovascular complications. The World Health Foundation has attributed the death of over one million people to heart related diseases. That is why we and the government must premise on preventing deadly heart diseases by sensitising the people on the need to steer clear of unhealthy diets that can trigger high blood pressure, high cholesterol and glucose levels which are capable of shortening the lifespan of people, or depriving them of the ability to go about their daily activities as individuals and as members of a larger society”.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Saka, urged people of the state to always check their body mass index (BMI) and avoid lifestyles of smoking, alcohol intake and other factors that could expose them to cardiovascular diseases.

He assured that the state government will upgrade and equip its health facilities across the state to be able to handle heart related diseases and other health challenges of the people.

Over 1000 participants at the even were taken through a free Blood Pressure, BP, reading and admonished by health officials on healthy living in connection to their BP readings.