‘Nigeria to lose N8bn to cardiovascular diseases in 2015’

Making reference to World Health Organization statistics, Dr James Ogunmodede, consultant physician and cardiologist at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, said the profile burden of cardiovascular diseases is likely to get worse in developing economies.Delivering a paper on “Economic Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases” at a special executive health workshop for the top management staff of […]

Making reference to World Health Organization statistics, Dr James Ogunmodede, consultant physician and cardiologist at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, said the profile burden of cardiovascular diseases is likely to get worse in developing economies.
Delivering a paper on “Economic Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases” at a special executive health workshop for the top management staff of LUBCON Limited, organised by A.I Global Concept, he noted that no fewer than 35.6 million lives would be lost by the same illness in Africa.
Ogunmodede noted that the diseases bring about premature death just as it slows down the economy of the affected countries, stressing that heart diseases are prevalent among the working populace in the developing countries.
He said: “Cardiovascular diseases leave many of their survivors with disability. This leads to chronic healthcare costs, lost of income and businesses among others. It imposes tremendous physical, psychological and emotional stress on victim’s family.”
Also speaking, the founder and president of Blood Pressure Foundation, Dr. Jacob Nwachukwu, emphasized need for executive officers to be vigilant and up-to-date in their health records.
He, however, warned that excessive intake of alcohol, salt, seasonings among others are capable of causing hypertension and diabetes which could later lead to sudden death noting that this claims more lives in Nigeria than every other causes of death.
Earlier, the organizer of the programme and Chairman, A.I. Global Concept, Abdullahi Ibrahim, charged: “We must do everything possible to protect our human resources by ensuring that they are well educated on how to take good care of themselves and immediate family members.