Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) has warned that over 200,000 Nigerians die from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) yearly, urging Nigerians to embrace heart-healthy lifestyles from childhood to reduce the country’s disease burden.
 
On its part, the Nigerian Cardiac Society (NCS) urged the Federal Government to strengthen CVD prevention, expand screening and improve treatment for Nigerians living with heart disease.
 
NHF made the disclosure yesterday in Lagos at an event to mark the 2026 World Heart Day (WHD), with the theme, ‘Healthy Hearts: From the Classroom to the Families’.
 
According to the foundation, CVDs account for 19.8 million of the 63 million deaths recorded each year globally, while more than 235,000 people die from the diseases in Nigeria yearly.
 
It said at least 80 per cent of premature deaths from heart disease could be avoided if five major risk factors, including tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol and air pollution, were controlled.
 
The Executive Director of NHF, Dr Kingsley Akinroye, said the foundation’s focus on schools was aimed at taking heart-health education to the grassroots and “catching them young” by instilling healthy values in students.
 
He urged teachers to promote healthy diets and physical activity among pupils, noting that heart disease begins at an early age and accumulates over the years.
  
NHF also warned that symptoms of CVDs could go unnoticed, dismissed or ignored, urging Nigerians to recognise warning signs and take early action.
 
Akinroye explained that increasing consumption of unhealthy foods, sedentary lifestyles, air pollution, alcohol and tobacco use had heightened concerns about heart-related diseases.
 
Globally, the World Heart Federation (WHF) launched the 2026 ‘Don’t Miss a Beat’ campaign to draw attention to heart disease symptoms that can remain unnoticed until it is too late.
 
The NHF also announced the return of the ‘Keep the Beat’ challenge, encouraging people to become more physically active throughout September.
 
Akinroye called for greater attention to cardiovascular health, including national action plans and universal access to treatment, to reduce deaths from the diseases.

NCS, during activities marking the WHD in Abuja, noted a growing population, which has increased demand for cardiovascular healthcare services.
 
President of the society, Prof. Rasaaq Adebayo, said that although the government had made progress in improving healthcare facilities and services, more needed to be done.
 
He said: “Our association has been partnering the government, and the government has been doing a lot in terms of enhancing facilities, providing facilities and providing services.

“But the population keeps growing, and the needs of the people keep growing. We still continue to advocate more facilities. The ones that have been used, we need to replace them and so on.”
 
The NCS president also urged the government to intensify efforts in cardiovascular health promotion, disease prevention and treatment.
 
He said Nigerians had become more conscious of physical exercise compared with previous decades, but noted that more needed to be done to reduce sedentary lifestyles.
 
“We have moved significantly. There has been significant progress in all those areas. If you look at 20 or 30 years ago and now, a lot of primary prevention measures and health education have been done,” he said.
 
Adebayo, however, warned that increasing automation was contributing to sedentary lifestyles.
 
Professor of Medicine and Consultant Cardiologist, Amam Mbakwe, called for cardiovascular screening to be incorporated into the primary healthcare system.
 
Mbakwe, who is also the Vice-President of the WHF, said cardiovascular disease remained a major cause of death globally.
 
She said Nigeria could not rely solely on specialists and tertiary hospitals to tackle the growing burden of cardiovascular diseases.
 
“The screening must start at the primary healthcare level. We are saying that we don’t need to develop another system. Let’s integrate it into the already existing primary healthcare system,” she said.
 
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the NCS, Prof. Ejiroghene Umuerri, called for increased local production of cardiovascular medicines to reduce cost.
 
Umuerri said many cardiovascular medicines are on Nigeria’s Essential Medicines List and relatively affordable.
 
She, however, noted that most of the medicines were imported, increasing the cost of treatment.