Ogun Government has inaugurated a committee on National Hypertension Control Initiative to curtail the prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, who made this known in Abeokuta on Tuesday, said the inauguration of the committee was part of activities to mark the 2020 World Heart Day (WHD).
WHD is annually observed on Sept. 29 around the globe in an effort to raise public awareness about CVD.
CVD has many causes, ranging from smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, air pollution and rare and neglected conditions such as Chagas Disease and cardiac amyloidosis.
The commissioner, who said there was no data on the number of people who died of CVD in the state, adding that part of the task of the new committee was to work on
getting the data.
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According to her, the disease is caused by diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, air pollution and smoking, saying that individuals with these diseases are at higher risk of developing complications.
She explained that the criteria for choosing Ogun as one of the states for CVD control was the commitment shown when officials of the World Health Organisation
(WHO) were looking for states to engage on the control of the disease in the country.
She noted that the Ogun Government was committed toward implementing policies and initiatives that would lead to good heart health of the people.
She added that “today, we are inaugurating the national hypertension control initiative committee, being one of the two states selected nationally for this initiative.
“The initiative is geared toward screening, early detection and treatment of hypertension in six local government areas of the state.
“This is to ultimately reduce the incidence of CVD among citizens.
“Also, Ogun health insurance scheme is designed to provide free screening and treatment of high blood pressure for all citizens at the primary health care
centres.”
According to Coker, the state stands to gain a lot from the initiative, as people will have opportunity to be screened for early detection to avert complications.
NAN
