The Chief Executive Officer, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Ekunno, has said that one-third of the Nigerian population is suffering from hypertension.
Ekunno said this when ambassadors of the Fight The Good Fight Against Hypertension and top executives of the Nigerian Heart Foundation paid a courtesy visit to the PUNCH Headquarters in Magboro, Ogun State.
According to him, hypertension is ravaging the country’s adult population due to ignorance, poor awareness on the health condition and the high cost of anti-hypertensive drugs in the country,
He said, “Studies have shown that one-third of the Nigerian population is suffering from hypertension. The sad thing is that one third of the hypertensive group does not even know. We also found out that 70 per cent of hypertensive patients in Nigeria do not take their drugs regularly because of the cost.”
Ekunno said there was an urgent need for the government to support local drug manufacturing of anti-hypertensive drugs to encourage patient’s compliance to medication.
To increase access to treatment, Ekunno stated that the FITGAH, under its hypertension control programme, has instituted a 50 per cent subsidy initiative on hypertensive drugs produced by its parent company for affected patients.
The Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foundation. Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, identified unmanaged hypertension for the increasing incidence of heart disease among Nigerians.
Akinroye, who is also a FITGAH ambassador, called on the Federal Government and stakeholders in the health sector to increase awareness on the need for prevention. He also called on the government to make a national policy subsidy on anti-hypertensive drugs more accessible to patients.
He said, “The United Nations and other stakeholders agreed in 2011 that a heart disease which is majorly caused by hypertension should be brought to the front burner with policies that would reduce the global incidence. It means that if we tackle hypertension, we are directly reducing deaths and morbidity from heart diseases.
“One way to do that is for us to bring the cost of treatment to an affordable level. Hypertensive drugs should be as affordable as malaria drugs. Government at all levels has a role to play. How many Nigerians can afford N10, 000 to buy anti-hypertensive medication each month?”
Neimeth’s Medical Consultant, Dr. Jude Duru-Onweni, urged Nigerians to screen regularly for hypertension by checking their blood pressure levels regularly.
Duru-Onweni noted that even though there is no cure but it can be managed when detected and tackled early.
“Hypertension is not just an epidemic; it is now a pandemic. It has no cure; it can only be managed. That is why you should screen regularly to know if you have high blood pressure. If you are, take your medication regularly because it does not sleep.”
--PUNCH
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