29% of Ghanaians hypertensive - Experts

Kumasi, Aug. 7, GNA - Heart diseases and strokes are said to be the top five and six causes of death in Ghana with rapidly increasing incidences in the country.

Twenty-nine per cent of adult Ghanaians are hypertensive, 14 per cent are obese and six per cent are diabetic.

The Ashanti Region has the highest number of cardiovascular disease reported at the Out Patient Departments.

These revelations came after a month-long series of discussions to explore ways to enhance access to vital information in response to the rapid increase in heart disease in Ghana and around the world. A statement issued in Kumasi by Dr Bernard Nkum, a Cardiology Consultant at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), who is also the local Director of the ProCor Project in Ashanti, said the month-long activities in Kumasi and Accra were part of the Ashanti ProCor Project. The project aimed at exploring new ways in which communication technologies could help meet the information needs of health workers who play a key role in preventing cardiovascular disease.
ProCor is an electronic network of individuals and groups around the world who share information, ideas and experiences.
Through ProCor people in clinical, community and policy settings have free access to information of the latest research policies, health promotion programmes, guidelines and resources that could support local and national strategies to promote heart health.
The statement said the project's first phase of activity in Ghana, which was concluded with a breakfast roundtable discussion on the topic, "Leading the way with knowledge to promote heart health in Ghana and globally", was chaired by Professor Kwame Sarpong, Provost of the College of Health Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Health experts from the KNUST, Regional Health Directorate, Kumasi Metro Health Directorate, KATH and health communication specialists among other health professionals attended. The statement said providing reliable health information for health workers in developing countries was potentially the single most cost effective and achievable strategy for sustainable improvement in health care.
It said information about prevention was also necessary to guide advocates, policymakers, community leaders, employers, the media and all those who had a role to play in comprehensive, integrated, effective and affordable prevention efforts.
The statement said based on the project's learning and input from the Ashanti Region, ProCor would develop new communication strategies to increase access to information about cardiovascular disease prevention.