Cardio Disease Tops KATH Admissions Chart

The Guangdong General Hospital team from China presenting the medical equipment to KATH officials

The first four ailments that topped the admissions chart at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi in 2015 are all related to cardiovascular disease.

The ailments include heart diseases, diabetes, stroke and chronic kidney ailments, authorities at KATH have announced.

Dr Isaac Kofi Owusu, Consultant Cardiologist at KATH, who made the disclosure, warned that cardiovascular disease is currently a huge problem in the country.

He, therefore, appealed to the relevant bodies and government to dedicate time and resources to educate the citizenry about the disease to help save precious human lives.

Dr Owusu was speaking when officials of the Guangdong General Hospital in China presented equipment used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease to KATH.

The equipment, valued at $150,000, are electrocardiogram, ABI system, digital retina camera and consumables.

The Guangdong General Hospital team had collaborated with KATH personnel in a programme christened 'Sino-Ghana Cardio Cooperation Programme'.

The three-year programme which came to a close on Wednesday is titled 'cardiovascular risk assessment and target organ damage among Ghanaians'.

The study, among other things, was aimed at unearthing factors that really cause cardiovascular disease among Ghanaians and how they can be tackled.

During the research period, the Guangdong General Hospital team also performed open heart and space maker implantation surgeries for free for people.

Dr Owusu disclosed that about 1,000 people selected from the Central, Ashanti, Northern and Greater Accra regions benefitted from the three-year study.

He said the team observed that young and middle-aged women in the Northern Region had blockages in their arteries, a sign that they could suffer cardiovascular disease in future.

Dr Owusu stated that the final results of the three-year study would be officially made public soon to help the awareness creation and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

According to him, signs that most Ghanaians could suffer from cardiovascular diseases are rampant, based on their intensive study.

He, therefore, admonished Ghanaians to adopt a healthy lifestyle by exercising their bodies regularly, increase intake of vegetables, eat less salt and fat and eat a lot of fruits to help save them from suffering cardiovascular disease.

Prof Jiyan Chen of the Guangdong General Hospital expressed delight about the effective collaboration between his hospital and KATH, expressing the hope that the two medical facilities would continue to work together in future.

 FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi