SIGNIFICANCE OF HEART DISEASE AND STROKE

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Nigeria and the world at large. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death. Together, heart disease and stroke, along with other cardiovascular disease, are among the most widespread and costly health problems facing the Nation today, accounting approximately billions of Naira in health care expenditures and related expenses annually. Fortunately, they are also among the most preventable.

The leading modifiable (controllable) risk factors for heart disease and stroke are:

• High blood pressure

• High cholesterol

• Cigarette smoking

• Diabetes

• Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity

• Overweight and obesity

Over time, these risk factors cause changes in the heart and blood vessels that can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, and strokes. It is critical to address risk factors early in life to prevent these devastating events and other potential complications of chronic cardiovascular disease.

Controlling risk factors for heart disease and stroke remains a challenge. High blood pressure, cigarette smoking, and high blood cholesterol are still major contributors to the national epidemic of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure affects approximately 1 in 3 adults in Nigeria, and only about half of them have it under control.

High sodium intake can increase blood pressure and the risk for heart disease and stroke, yet about 90% of most adults exceed their daily recommendation for sodium intake.

The risk of Nigerians developing and dying from cardiovascular disease would be substantially reduced if major improvements were made across the Nigerian population in diet and physical activity, control of high blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking cessation, and appropriate aspirin use.

Currently more than 1 in 3 adults (85.6 million) live with 1 or more types of cardiovascular disease.

In addition to being the first and fifth leading causes of death, heart disease and stroke result in serious illness and disability, decreased quality of life, and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic loss every year.

The burden of cardiovascular disease is disproportionately distributed across the population. There are significant disparities in the following based on gender, age, race/ethnicity, geographic area, and socioeconomic status:

> Prevalence of risk factors

> Access to treatment

> Appropriate and timely treatment

> Treatment outcomes

> Mortality

Disease does not occur in isolation, and cardiovascular disease is no exception. Cardiovascular health is significantly influenced by the physical, social, and political environment, including:

• Maternal and child health

• Access to educational opportunities

• Availability of healthy foods, physical education, and extracurricular activities in schools

• Opportunities for physical activity, including access to safe and walkable communities

• Access to healthy foods

• Quality of working conditions and worksite health

• Availability of community support and resources

• Access to affordable, quality health care

No national system exists to collect data on how often cardiovascular events occur or recur, or how often they result in disability and death.

Similarly, there is inadequate tracking of quality indicators across the continuum of care, from risk factor prevention through treatment of acute events to post-hospitalization and rehabilitation. New measures and tools are needed to monitor improvement in cardiovascular health and cardiovascular care over the next decade.

Other emerging issues in cardiovascular health include:

° Defining and measuring overall cardiovascular health

° Assessing and communicating lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease

° Addressing depression as a risk factor for and associated condition of heart disease and stroke

° Examining cognitive impairment due to cardiovascular disease

° Dealing with substantial gaps in the cardiovascular surveillance system.

The Ehsavisor is an advocate for Improve cardiovascular health and quality of life through prevention, detection, and treatment of risk factors for heart attack and stroke; early identification and treatment of heart attacks and strokes; prevention of repeat cardiovascular events; and reduction in deaths from cardiovascular disease.

NIWA ARRESTS BOAT OWNER CARRYING 12 PUPILS WITH NO LIFE JACKET ON LAGOS LAGOON

In all you do, safety should come first so that you will be healthy, alive and wholesome to continue another time. The owner of this boat went overboard. He threw caution to the wind and did something very inappropriate.

He carried 12 school pupils on his boat on the Lagos lagoon with the pupils not putting on life jackets.

The question now is: What could have been the faith of those kids if there had been a mishap? Even if he’s a fish and very good at swimming, he won't be able to save the life of 12 of them.

The management of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) on a control inspection on Monday intervened and brought the boat owner to book. According to the agency, a boat carrying 12 pupils of the Government Secondary School, Tarkwa Bay from Osborne to Marina in Lagos was arrested on Thursday March 28, because none of the pupils had life jackets on. The agency further revealed that all the pupils were below 16 years old.

“The route is one of the busiest. Most shockingly, none of the children wore a life jacket on that open boat. A standard approved life jacket is an essential requirement for water transportation and its use is mandatory, for it is the only tool that helps to ensure the survival of lives in the unfortunate event of a boat mishap.

“What is more, nobody can rule out the possibility of a mishap occurring on any trip at any given time due to several factors that may be beyond human control. NIWA places a very high premium on the safety of lives on water. We had only recently toured all passenger jetties in Lagos on sensitization campaign on safety, with particular emphasis on the use of life jackets, among other requirements. We view this incident as a gross travesty of this campaign, which consequences could have been the avoidable loss of precious young Nigerian lives.

“Consequently, the operator and driver of the impounded boat would be charged to court under extant laws, so as to serve as a severe deterrence to other operators in the industry.

We have lost so many lives from boat mishaps that every necessary step must be taken to protect further loss of lives on our waterways.

“NIWA will not relent in its determination to monitor activities on the inland waterways with routine and control inspections. We will seek maximum lawful penalties for those who violate safety measures on the waterways.

“We wish to use this medium to solicit the support of all Nigerians and in particular, stakeholders in the water transportation sub-sector and the media to support the Authority in its campaign towards safety on our waterways.”