World Heart Day: Awareness, Early Screening Key To Preventing Heart Disease

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark World Heart Day, the growing burden of cardiovascular disease has drawn attention to the need to detect and address heart disease risk factors early, before they develop into life-threatening conditions.

The Nigerian Cardiac Society (NCS) said protecting the heart must go beyond responding to symptoms. It requires stronger prevention, earlier screening and access to treatment.

The president of NCS, Prof. Rasaaq Adebayo, said the country had made progress in cardiovascular health promotion and healthcare services but still needed to do more.

According to him, Nigeria’s growing population is increasing demand for cardiovascular services, placing additional pressure on existing facilities.

“Our association has been partnering with the government, and the government has been doing a lot in terms of enhancing facilities, providing facilities and providing services.

“But you know that the population keeps growing, and the needs of the people keep growing,” Adebayo said.
For a country where the demand for healthcare continues to grow, prevention offers an opportunity to reduce the pressure created by avoidable complications.

Adebayo said Nigerians were now more conscious of physical exercise than they were two or three decades ago, reflecting progress in health education and primary prevention.

However, he noted that more needed to be done to reduce sedentary lifestyles, particularly as increasing automation changes how people work and move.

“We still agree that a lot needs to be done in terms of making sure that people are less sedentary,” he said.

Professor of Medicine, Consultant Cardiologist and Vice-President of the World Heart Federation. Prof. Amam Mbakwe, said cardiovascular screening should be brought closer to the people by integrating it into the primary healthcare system.

“The screening must start at the primary healthcare level,” she said.

Mbakwe said Nigeria does not necessarily need to create a completely new system for cardiovascular screening.

“And what we’re saying is that we don’t need to develop another system. Let’s integrate it into the already existing primary healthcare system,” she said.

She cited the integration of HIV services into primary care as an example of how existing healthcare structures could be used to expand access.

“If we see something that works, it’s something we can leverage on,” she said.

Such screening, she explained, would require functioning primary healthcare facilities equipped with basic tools to identify cardiovascular risks.

“There have to be functioning clinics. There have to be glucometers to check blood sugar. They should be able to measure weight, check the urine for protein,” Mbakwe said.

The emphasis on screening is particularly important because people may not always know that they are at risk.
A person can feel healthy, remain active and continue with everyday life without realising that something requiring medical attention has already developed.

Early detection therefore provides an opportunity to identify problems before they progress.

However, identifying a condition is only the beginning. For Nigerians who are diagnosed with cardiovascular conditions, the ability to obtain and remain on treatment is another important part of protecting the heart.

The Secretary-General of the Nigerian Cardiac Society, Prof. Enjiroghene Umuerri, said the cost of cardiovascular medicines remains a concern because most of the drugs used in Nigeria are imported.

“None of these drugs is manufactured in Nigeria. Most of the drugs, almost all, are imported,” she said.

“So, you can imagine the added cost of having to import these medications. That in itself is driving the cost high.”

Umuerri called for more Nigerian pharmaceutical companies to begin producing essential cardiovascular medicines locally, arguing that this could help reduce the cost of treatment.

“One of the things that we are advocating for is to have more companies come to compound those essential drugs in Nigeria,” she said.

She also called for fixed-dose combinations to be included in the Essential Medicines List.

For patients with hypertension who require more than one medicine, combining two or three medicines in a single tablet could make treatment easier and improve adherence, she said.

Umuerri said such medicines should also be made available through the National Health Insurance Authority programmes and other initiatives capable of making treatment more affordable.

This year’s World Heart Day theme, “Don’t Miss a Beat,” highlights the need for early detection, prevention and timely treatment of cardiovascular disease to protect heart health.

With many risk factors detectable and manageable long before serious complications occur, prevention, early screening and timely intervention remain critical to protecting Nigerians from avoidable heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular conditions.