How can heart diseases be prevented? What help is there for those who cannot afford treatment? These and more formed the basis of the First Annual Black Tie Gala to raise funds in support of cardiovascular care in Nigeria. It was organised by the Tristate Heart Foundation, chaired by former Osun State Governor Chief Bisi Akande. The event attracted four Southwest governors and other dignitaries, reports JOSEPH JIBUEZE.
Less than 20 years ago, the top three killers disease in Africa were malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. But, according to experts, cardiovascular disease is currently one of the leading causes of death in adults over 30 in sub-sahara Africa, followed by stroke. Globally, 17.3 deaths from heart diseases are said to occur per year, a figure expected to rise to more than 23.6million by 2030.
Medical experts say globally, low and middle-income countries bear 80 per cent of the world’s death burden from cardiovascular diseases due to the inability of those who heart-related ailments to afford treatment.
To offer help to less privileged Nigerians who are unable to afford treatment, the Tristate Heart Foundation (THF) was launched. Chaired by former Osun State Governor Chief Bisi Akande, it plans to sponsor a minimum of 150 open-heart surgeries in the next one year. The foundation held its first Annual Black Tie Gala last Tuesday to raise N500million in support of cardiovascular care in Nigeria.
The foundation’s sister organisation, the Tristate Cardiovascular Associates (TCA), made up of a team of cardiologists, has carried out over 100 open heart surgeries and numerous cardiac interventions at the Tristate Heart & Vascular Centre. However, 60 per cent of the patients were unable to pay their bills.
THF is a non-for profit organisation and an offshoot of TCA, established to raise awareness of heart diseases and support indigent patients especially those under the age of 10. The foundation is also committed to raising funds to support research.
Many have benefited from THF’s free health screening and health care services through TCA. One of such beneficiaries is an 18-year-old student and footballer on whom the Tristate team performed the first open heart surgery without charge.
On the foundation’s objectives, Akande said: “Let’s change the fortune of that one child out of 100 children who will be born with a heart disease. Let us rescue that man and that woman whose level of income cannot support open heart surgeries.”
Creating awareness
The foundation has been creating awareness on prevention of heart diseases. Through TCA, it emphasises that early diagnosis and treatment saves lives. It said the key to preventing cardiovascular/heart disease and staying generally healthy is managing risk factors such as high blood pressure, high total cholesterol or high blood glucose.
The recommended tests to undergo for optimum cardiovascular health include blood pressure, fasting lipoprotein profile (cholesterol), body weight to prevent obesity and diabetes and testing for blood glucose to avoid insulin resistance.
They also recommend quitting smoking (which causes preventable premature deaths), increasing physical activity (exercise) and a having healthy diet.
According to TCA, the recognised risk factors for heart disease include being overweight, cigarette smoking, high cholesterol or triglycerides, diabetes millitus, and a positive family history of coronary artery disease and hypertension.
The experts say both men and women face the threat of heart diseases. Ways to prevent it include developing healthy habits, avoiding smoking, relaxing and reducing prolonged exposure to stress hormone which can damage arterial linings, getting regular check-up, drinking moderately, which can reduce risk of heart decease by 25 per cent, having regular but protected sex (at least twice a week), avoiding soda and sweetened beverages, and staying active through regular workouts.
The experts say high blood pressure is the number one cause of stroke because it adds to the heart’s workload and damages inner linings of arteries and organs over time.
The TCA said those at higher risk are those with a family history of high blood pressure, people of African descent, people 35-years and older, overweight or obese people, those who eat too much salt, consume too much alchohol, use birth control pills and are not physically active.
“Having high blood pressure does not mean that you’re tense or nervous. You can be calm and relaxed and still have high blood pressure. You usually can’t tell if you have it. The only way to know if your blood pressure is high is to have it checked regularly,” a pamphlet produced by Tristate Heard and Cascular Centre says.
Signs of stoke, the experts say, include sudden weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden numbness, sudden difficult in seeing in one or both eyes, sudden loss of balance or coordination, sudden confusion or trouble understanding, sudden difficulty in speaking and sudden severe and unusual headache.
Why foundation was launched
Akande said the foundation would fund free treatment and research: “We are here to join hands and prevent the next heart from stopping prematurely. We are here to prove to the world that we are noble people with the capacity to find solution to our problems.”
He said time has come for meaningful contribution to health and educational sector through provision of adequate infrastructural support, skilled manpower and commitment to research. Enough of over analyzing the problems. What we need now are solution providers,” he said.
Akande narrated the experience of an 11-year-old boy who was wrongly diagnosed by a professor of medicine and had been moved around hospitals for five years. The wrong treatment, he said, led to multiple organ failure; the parents were told that what was left was a heart transplant. The boy, he said, would need a minimum of $200,000 every year to live.
According to the former All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, the government must create an enabling environment for those in private and public practice so as to cut down cash outflow associated with seeking medical care overseas.
He urged the Federal Government to remove high import duty on medical equipment and consumables by granting tax holidays to medical devices’ manufacturers and encouraging local production.
“Above all, we must ensure and enforce health insurance scheme for our people because if health insurance is made compulsory, then organisations like ours will have fewer objectives to contend with. We must stop paying lip service to the health sector because a healthy nation is a productive nation.
“I, Bisi Akande, currently a 78-year-old man, have decided to do my part by dedicating myself completely to an initiative that will improve the health of Nigerian citizens and prevent us from needless deaths.
“I am glad that I and every member of the board of Tristate Heart Foundation have found a worthy partner in Tristate Cardiovascular Associates. Our objective as a foundation is to make life meaningful. And we hope to achieve it by raising funds for indigent patients especially children under the age of 10.
“We plan to sponsor a minimum of 150 open heart surgeries in the next one year, embark on aggressive public campaign on prevention of heart diseases among our people and to fund research effort in the area of cardiovascular medicine,” Akande said.
President/Chief Executive Officer of TCA, Prof Kamar Adeleke, said the funds would be “spent on caring for people”. Calling for more support, he added: “We also want to spend money on research.”
Members of the foundation’s board include Mr John Momoh (Vice-Chairman), former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Joseph Sanusi, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), Mrs Clare Omatseye, among others.
Governors pledge support
At the event were governors Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos), who chaired the event, Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), as well as former Minister of Health Prof Isaac Adewole.
Aregbesola said he used to think he had immunity from illnesses until his daughter, a physician, after checking his blood pressure, told him: “Daddy, you’re going.”
“I said: ‘Going to where?’ She said I had to see a doctor. If what I went through is anything to go by, then we must support this effort. My daughter tells me hypertension is a killer, so I’m for this,” he said.
Ambode said Lagos, with its large population, “must come frontally to support the initiative.” He added: “We all must push this initiative forward.”
The governor a donation of N100million, adding that he was sure most of the beneficiaries would be “Lagosians”.
Amosun said government cannot address the challenges of the health sector alone. “That is why the private sector is needed.” He announced a donation of N5million in his personal capacity, and N10million on the state’s behalf.
Ajimobi, whose speech drew laughter, said the event coincided with his 36th wedding anniversary.
“I knew coming here would save my life because all the activities my wife and I planned might end up in a heart attack. At this age, one has to be very careful,” he joked.
The governor, 66, praised the foundation’s initiatives, saying: “What is being done here today is an epitome of nobility. It is service to humanity,” he said.
Announcing his donation, the governor joked that he had already talked too much, an indication that he would donate little.
Besides, he said when it came to solving financial problems in Yorubaland, it was the younger ones who handled it while the elders only talked. He, however, donated N5million, and another N5million on the state’s behalf.
Federal Government’s health plans
Prof Adewole said non-communicable diseases were erroneously believed to be the problem of the affluent, adding that the rich and poor were affected.
After identifying the risk factors such as use of tobacco products, unhealthy diet, harmful alchohol intake, physical inactivity and air pollution, he said: “These factors are aggravated by poor awareness, harmful cultural practices, beliefs and misconceptions by the public.”
The minister said 80 per cent of working class adults in urban areas in Nigeria do not meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended level of physical activity, such as 30 minutes of exercise daily, five days a week. He added that about 30.3 to 74.6 per cent of Nigerian children and youth aged five to 25 are not sufficiently active.
On reducing tobacco use, he said the National Tobacco Control Act of 2015 would help more people shun tobacco use.
“This is important because tobacco is the singular most import risk factor for cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases,” he said.
Even those who inhale tobacco smoke are also at risk, he said, adding that 29.3 per cent of adults (6.4milion adults) were exposed to tobacco smoke when visiting restaurants, hotels and similar places.
Calling for the adoption of a healthier lifestyle, he said: “I am advising that fruits and vegetables should be included in every meal we take. Fatty foods and fizzy drinks loaded with sugar should be reduced and possibly avoided.”
He urged the private sector to invest in health in order to stop capital flight and build trust in the health system. He sector, he added, can directly be a net contributor to economic growth.
Among others plans, the minister said he would ensure the National Agency for Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC) plays a crucial role in regulating cross border movement of unhealthy food such as those high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, excessive salt and other harmful ingredients.
“Similarly, the Federal Ministry of Health through NAFDAC would enforce product labeling with ingredient lists and nutrition information labels to facilitate healthier choices,” he said.
