NHF, Cardiologists Express Concern Over Rising Cases of Cardiovascular Diseases
Worried by the rising cases of cardiovascular diseases in the country, especially hypertension, the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF), cardiologists and nutritionists have advocated review of national guidelines for food production.
They expressed concerns over a World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report that 76.2 million Nigerians are living with hypertension, which poses the highest cardiovascular disease burden.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of deaths globally. An estimated 17.9 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2019, of which 85 per cent were due to heart attacks and strokes. Eliminating trans fat is seen as an easy way to reduce the numbers.
The experts led by the NHF have also bowed to pressure by the WHO, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to readjust safety limit for foods containing palm oil derivatives/ Saturated Fatty Acids (SAFAs).
Consequently, the NHF has adopted new safety limit for palm oil derivatives in food products and set June 30, 2024 deadline for recertification of cooking oils as heart friendly. They also insist on zero limits for trans fat in foods.
They also decried association of added salt with hypertension, heart failure, stroke and heart attack, even as they explained how to detect cooked and packaged foods with high level of salt.
A consultant cardiologist and Executive Director, NHF, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, while speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Lagos, last week, with the theme, ‘Lipids and Cardiovascular Health,’ said: “We want Nigerians to live long, we wants Nigerians to live healthy and we want a productive population. In few years, quite a lot of our young executives have been dying suddenly.
“The commonest cause of sudden death is heart. We want everybody to be healthy. Right from the family to the policy makers, everybody has got responsibility.
Read Also:
“We know that the number one factor in heart disease is diet and commonest culprit in the diet is fat. Although salt is also there but fat is key.”
Read Also: Trans-Fat Oil: Enugu Women Cautioned Against Cardiovascular Diseases
Chairman Executive Council, NHF, Dr. Femi Mobolaji-Lawal, while speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Lagos, last week, said studies have shown that since the onset of COVID-19 in the country, people living with cardiovascular diseases, amongst other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) were significantly affected and died from COVID-19.
Mobolaji-Lawal said statistics has shown that cardiovascular diseases pose a high burden on health systems; an increasing trend that can be controlled by making healthy food choices, among others.
Specifically, he disclosed that the Nigerian Policy and Strategic Plan of Action on NCDs, a Federal Ministry of Health document, proposes to look at different ways to manage NCDs, a rising cause of morbidly and mortality in the country.
To this end, he disclosed that in recognition of the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in the country and the importance of prevention strategies is co-organising with World Heart Federation in March this year a “National Roundtable Discussion” on cardiovascular diseases, which is to focus on hypertension.
In her speech, Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Christianah Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed that coronary heart disease deaths in Nigeria reached 53,836 or 2.82 per cent of total deaths, and are responsible for the greatest proportion of the total mortality due to NCDs.
Represented by her Special Assistant, Dr. Gbenga Fajemirokun, Adeyeye said there is critical need to pay more attention to meeting global standards with a view to promoting cardiovascular health in the country.
Also speaking, President of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Committee, Dr. Olorogun Sonny Kuku, decried low life expectancy in Nigeria, saying cardiovascular diseases accounted for a lot of deaths in the country.
Describing the meeting as appropriate, Kuku said: “In this part of the country, we love lipids. Lipids need to be controlled and when controlled, life expectancy can be raised to 80 year.”
