‘Grant us one region, one cath lab’ – Cardiologist calls on government

Dr. Alfred Doku, a Cardiologist and Physician at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has called on government to establish additional catheterization labs across all regions to ensure the effective diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases, the Daily Guide reports.

According to him, the three catheterization labs - which are examination rooms in a hospital or clinic that serve as a diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualize the arteries and chambers of the heart to treat any abnormality - are inadequate.

“We want the government to at least establish a catheterization lab in each region so we can also have ‘one region, one cath lab for all’,” he stressed.
Dr Doku made this known while speaking at the 4th Biennial Public Lecture in Accra on the theme: “Heart Attack: An Emerging Disease We Cannot Ignore”.

He explained that there was a low public knowledge of cardiac arrest resuscitation, no defibrillators at public places and lack of electrocardiography machines and therefore stressed the need for intensified public knowledge on the symptoms and signs of cardiac arrest.

A Lecturer at the University of Ghana Medical School, Dr. Yacoba Atiase, explaining the risk factors of most heart diseases cited that some 50 percent of cardiac attack deaths occur in the first one hour of the attack.

She indicated that high cholesterol intake contributes to plaque formation which increases the risk of heart diseases and urged the general public to practice healthy living.

“Avoid trans-fat-like biscuits, cookies, doughnuts and limit unhealthy fats and saturated fats in beef lamb. Rather, eat mono-saturated fats like olive oils, avocado, nuts and fish,” she advised.

Heart related diseases

Heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality among middle-aged adults globally, accounting for more than 40 percent of deaths, a 2018 medical research by Laval University, in Quebec showed.

It revealed that cardiovascular diseases have been responsible for around 17.7 million deaths in 2017.

But in richer countries, cancer now kills more people than heart disease, according to the twin studies published in the medical journal.