• Hardship, unhealthy lifestyles plunge more youths into hypertension
• Experts advocate regular BP checks, increased physical activity, lifestyle modifications
• Minister of Health raises concern as one in every three adults is hypertensive
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Hypertension Day today, stakeholders in the country’s health sector have identified the rising cost of drugs for the treatment of hypertension as a major concern and potential threat to the gains that may be derived from hypertension control initiatives.
This is as the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, decried the increasing number of people with the condition and attributed it to sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles. He, therefore called for the creation of awareness about hypertension to reduce its prevalence in the society.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than one billion people globally are living with hypertension, which is one of the leading causes of stroke, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and heart attack resulting in death or disability. Hypertension affects approximately 1.28 billion people worldwide, with two-thirds of them living in low- and middle-income countries.
Nigeria contributes significantly to the global burden of the disease. According to the Cardiac Society of Nigeria, about 38 per cent of adult Nigerians, representing four out of every 10 adult Nigerians or one of every three adults are hypertensive.
The Nigerian Hypertension Society (NHS) has, therefore, urged healthcare providers to cautiously use the most affordable and available effective and safe medicines for the treatment of hypertension.
President of the society, Prof. Simeon Isezuo, who stated this on Thursday in Abuja, called on the government to take necessary measures to bring down the prices of medicines while advocating local production of drugs.
Isezuo urged the private sector, philanthropists and religious organisations to support the less-privileged by funding their treatment and enrolling them in healthcare insurance schemes.
He observed that hypertension is an inheritable disease that may affect multiple members of the same family and advocated that Nigerians strengthen their traditional African family system in the control of hypertension.
“These include sharing of information about hypertension, promotion of native African diet, and involvement in physical domestic activities instead of living them exclusively for house-helps. Families should support and encourage their members with hypertension to take their medicines regularly. Regular blood pressure checks should be encouraged in the family. Ultimately, every family or household or home in Nigeria should have a blood pressure apparatus for regular blood pressure checks.”
May 17 every year is observed as World Hypertension Day since 2005. The aim is to create awareness and promote the prevention, detection and treatment of hypertension. The theme for this year is ‘Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer.’
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, occurs when the pressure in blood vessels is too high (140/90 mmHg or higher), it is common but can be serious or deadly if not treated.
Modifiable risk factors, according to WHO, include unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, consumption of tobacco and alcohol, and being overweight or obese while the non-modifiable risk factors include a family history of hypertension, age over 65 years and co-existing diseases such as diabetes or kidney disease.
To commemorate this year’s World Hypertension Day, experts have advised that regular blood pressure checks, regular physical activity and lifestyle modifications can help maintain a hypertensive-free life.
In an interview with The Guardian, the National President of the Nigerian Cardiac Society, Prof. Augustine Odili, said cases of hypertension are increasing in the country not just among youths but the whole population, adding that the increasing risk factors include obesity and physical inactivity.
He lamented that the cost of hypertension drugs is rising because most of these drugs are imported, adding that the fluctuation of the foreign exchange rate is significantly affecting anti-hypertensive drugs, leaving a very terrible impact on hypertension control in the country.
He pointed out that the greatest risk factor for hypertension is age stressing that as people age, they become more hypertensive. He said: “Nigerians are getting bigger, the size you see people when you get into any social gathering was not the size people were 50 years ago, also physical inactivity is increasing, we are no longer as active the way we used to be many years back. Ours used to be an agrarian population, people went to the farm and trekked for kilometers and trekked back when they finished their farm work, you no longer see those things again, people are no longer so physically active. The public transport system is so poor; people don’t ride bicycles; even when you want to ride bicycles, the roads are so bad that you can’t even try it. You can’t take a walk around and all these are things that increase physical inactivity.”
He explained that weight reduction and physical exercise can reduce blood pressure marginally, but warned that somebody whose blood pressure is 200/140 wouldn’t say that he is going to treat the hypertension with exercise, but those lifestyle modifications are important even when taking drugs.
“The best way to manage hypertension is to use the drugs but lifestyle modifications help the drugs to be more effective in terms of reducing the quantity of the drugs you have to take.”
Speaking on the theme for this year, a former president of the Nigerian Hypertension Society, Prof. Basden Onwubere, said hypertension is the commonest non-communicable disease in Nigeria, which is on the increase adding that a lot of people are still not aware that they have the disease and stressed the need for people to get checked regularly.
Onwubere noted that the economic situation of the country is presently hindering necessary treatments for a lot of hypertensive patients and this he said has alarming consequences, including sudden death.
According to the professor, the most recent research conducted showed that only 10 per cent of Nigerians who had hypertension knew while the remaining 90 per cent were unaware that they were hypertensive and a good number of them died suddenly from stroke or experienced heart failure without knowing that their blood pressure was the initial cause.
Speaking on the current cost of drugs and how it will affect those with chronic disease, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Prof Martins Emeje, recommended the use of indigenous herbal medicine to treat hypertension.
According to him, natural medicines and their phyto-constituents can pass through millions of pathways to treat a particular disease unlike synthetic drugs, built to pass through a particular pathway, limiting the chances of effective treatment, especially when the individual develops resistance to the drugs.
“We have about five natural anti-hypertensive products currently and some of them are already approved by NAFDAC and all of them are natural, and development of resistance against it is impossible,” he said.
Emeje also noted that these natural medicines are less expensive and therefore more affordable for hypertensive patients to purchase. To curb mortality from the condition, the Minister of Health, Pate said the Federal Government in 2020 launched the National Hypertension Control Initiative, which provided screening services and treatment for persons with the condition. He, therefore, stressed the need for more awareness to promote early detection and diagnosis.
He added that the government is working with WHO, the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) and other partners to reduce the burden of hypertension and other Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country.
Also, Dr. Abiola Awe of the Nigerian Heart Foundation advised Nigerians to avoid tobacco, alcohol, trans-fat and oil, as well as reducing salt intake, manage stress and exercise regularly to prevent hypertension.
The NHF stated that unhealthy foods should be taxed to discourage their consumption while legislation should be enacted to enforce appropriate labels of salt, fat and sugar contents on food packages. It further recommended the consumption of traditional African food derived from roots, stems and leaves, regular exercise and optimum weight for the prevention of hypertension.
