Cases of Cardiovascular Disease are on the rise among Ghanaians – GHS

As part of activities line up to commemorate this year’s World Heart Day in Ghana, the Stroke Association Support Network-Ghana (SANET GHANA) has held a Community Forum and Mobile Van Campaign in the Oti and Volta regions respectively.

The objectives of the events which took place on September 29, 2021 was to discuss the Prevention, Treatment and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) at the Community level and to promote the World Heart Day in Ghana, among other issues.

Dr. Nyidewu Joseph, who represented the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) disclosed that the number of Cardiovascular cases recorded in the second and third quarters of this year have increased significantly, and that, patients with CVD are highly at risk of dying from COVID-19.

He said this during the Community Forum held at Kwamekrom in the Biakoye District in the Oti region.

The Chairperson for the event, Samuel Sedodo, who himself is a stroke survivor, called on the government to adopt best practices in addressing Cardiovascular Disease issues especially in the implementation of digital health services as proposed by the World Heart Federation (WHF) so as to bridge the gap in Cardiovascular Heath delivery across the country.

So of the critical points outlined at the forum include the need for the expansion of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cover treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular diseases; Call for access to safe and quality approved medicines, treatment and care services, among others.

The SASNET-GHANA, GHS, National Ambulance Service and the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) embarked on public sensitization on cardiovascular diseases and demonstration of CPR in Communities around Hohoe in the Volta region.

Cardiovascular diseases and stroke contributes to over 37% of the 94,000 NCD deaths annually, representing about 43% of all deaths in Ghana, this is according to the World Health Organization NCD Progress Monitor.