The Superintendent of the Accra Hospital, Dr. Emmanuel Sowah, has called for the introduction of law that will make all restaurants to close by 7pm to force people to eat before that time to a avoid exposing themselves to cardio-vascular diseases.

Dr. Sowah said about 80 per cent of the causes of cardio-vascular diseases were behavioural, and entreated the public to make conscious efforts to lead healthy lifestyles. He described the situation as “very worrisome” because it could have a long term effect on the country’s human resource and level of productivity. Cardiovascular diseases are diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels.

Addressing workers of the Volta River Authority (VRA) at ‘VRA Safety Awareness Day’ in Accra, he called for a national policy to force citizens to adopt healthy lifestyles. “Common unhealthy practices that lead to cardiovascular diseases are excessive smoking, physical inactivity and eating unhealthy food,” he explained. The Deputy Chief Executive of VRA, Ms. Alexander Toeto, called on the staff to make personal commitment to work safety. “We must understand that our individual actions at work do not only affect the VRA as a corporate body, but also affect our families and personal lives as well,” she said and advised the workers to make efforts to eat healthy foods, rest sufficiently, exercise and plan their schedules in order to manage stress.