Worried by increasing deaths from cardiovascular diseases, stakeholders in the healthcare industry are proffering ways to address the challenges and reverse the negative trend, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF.
How can the huge harvest of preventable deaths from cardiovascular diseases be reversed in Nigeria? That was the question top-notch medical experts and other stakeholders in the healthcare industry sought to answer last week. Gathered at the Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos, were leading cardiologists, medical directors and health policymakers–all united with the mission to ease access to treatment for cardiovascular diseases (non-communicable diseases) in the country.
The stakeholders’ forum was organised by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), a coalition of private healthcare sector stakeholders agitating for improvement in the sector, and Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company.
Aside being the leading cause of deaths worldwide, non-communicable diseases ((NCDs) are a major public health challenge of this century, accounting for 41 million (71 per cent) of the 57 million deaths recorded across the globe in 2016. According to a recent report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the major NCDs responsible for these deaths included cardiovascular diseases (17.9 million deaths, accounting for 44 per cent of all NCD deaths and 31 per cent of all global deaths); cancers (9 million deaths, 22 per cent of all NCD deaths and 16 per cent of all global deaths); chronic respiratory diseases (3.8 million deaths, 9 per cent of all NCD deaths and 7 per cent of all global deaths); and diabetes (1.6 million deaths, 4 per cent of all NCD deaths and 3 per cent of all global deaths).
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) data has consistently shown that cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of deaths globally. Besides, non-communicable diseases ((NCDs) are a major public health challenge of this century, accounting for 41 million (71 per cent) of the 57 million deaths recorded across the globe in 2016. According to a recent WHO report, the major NCDs responsible for these deaths included cardiovascular diseases (17.9 million deaths, accounting for 44 per cent of all NCD deaths and 31 per cent of all global deaths); cancers (9 million deaths, 22 per cent of all NCD deaths and 16 per cent of all global deaths); chronic respiratory diseases (3.8 million deaths, 9 per cent of all NCD deaths and 7 per cent of all global deaths); and diabetes (1.6 million deaths, 4 per cent of all NCD deaths and 3 per cent of all global deaths).
As Nigeria quakes under the weight of traditional communicable and infectious diseases, there is increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cancer and so on. The rapid epidemiologic transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases can be attributed to rapid urbanisation, unhealthy diets rich in fats and salt, western lifestyle and sedentary living.
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In her welcome address, Clare Omatseye, HFN president, said every Nigerian should worried by the high burden of cardiovascular diseases and inadequate access to treatment in the country, especially by the poor who cannot afford the expensive treatment and other procedures. “We want to go to the next level in accelerating access to cardiovascular care in our country. We see on a daily basis a number of Nigerians whose lives would have been saved if only there was access to care. In the last 10years, the number of deaths associated with cardiovascular diseases has become a major burden. Over 70 patients of cardiovascular diseases are at risk because they cannot access care mainly because of affordability.
Cardiovascular Disease is the world’s number one killer, claiming nearly 17.5 million lives every year. Although the incidence of heart disease has steadily declined in high-income countries, the burden on middle and low-income countries has never been greater. “30 per cent of Nigerians have heart disease”. This was disclosed by Professor Jane Ajuluchukwu, a consultant cardiologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), to mark the World Heart Day in September 2018.
Following the realisation of this rising epidemic and the need for initiatives for the improvement of cardiac care, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria and Medtronic have joined forces and organised a forum to discuss strategies and partnerships to overcome this rising epidemic with key stakeholders in this care space under the theme: “Accelerating Access to Cardiac Care in Nigeria”.
Key stakeholders in the healthcare sector, were invited to attend the forum, share their experience and discuss their expectations, needs and possible solutions to the challenges in the cardiovascular health space.
At the end of the event, all key stakeholders had committed to a five-point agenda, which include: acceleration of the present number of cardiac surgery cases from 200 to, at least, 1000 annually in Nigeria; collaboration among various stakeholders to reduce the cost of cardiac surgery by at least 30 per cent; advocate for the NHIS and other health insurance schemes to include cardiac care as part of their package; advocate the participation of foundations/donors to fund up to 200 surgeries for children with cardiac/cardiovascular diseases; and doubling the number of trained and independent interventional cardiologists in country.
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