AFRICANS PRE-DISPOSED TO HYPERTENSION THAN WHITES-MEDICAL DIRECTOR

It is estimated that 20 per cent of the world’s over seven billion human population is suffering from hypertension. 

One third of patients in this population are not aware that they are suffering from this slow killer disease. 

The Station Medical Director of the Four Medical Reception Station of the Ghana Armed Forces, Flight Lieutenant Alhaji Shaibu made this known in Kumasi while addressing some Senior Staff of the Bank of Ghana. 

The Senior Staff of the Bank of Ghana had completed nearly a two-hour health walk. 

The participants, including Departmental Heads as well as the Second Deputy Governor, Dr. Johnson Asiama, began the exercise with some aerobics at the premises of the Kumasi Area office of the Bank at Adum. 

They thereafter walked through some of the major streets of the city amidst brass band music.

 The walk ended at the Kumasi Rattray Park where the participants were educated on how to stay healthy by the Medical Director of the Four Medical Reception Station of the Ghana Armed Forces, Flight Lieutenant Alhaji Shaibu. 

Flt Lt Alhaji Shaibu noted that a large number of people are patients of hypertension with a significant number of them not knowing of their status. 

According to him, a number of reasons make people highly susceptible to the slow killer disease. 

These include skin disposition, hereditary and lifestyles such as high intake of alcohol, salt as well as sedentary behaviour, particularly among office workers. 

The symptoms are also many and mostly include headache and unusual fast heartbeat. Flt Lt Alhaji Shaibu therefore entreated people, especially office workers to take advantage of the least opportunity to walk or exercise the body to reduce their risk level of getting the disease. 

The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama explained that the health walk is part of the initiative of the Bank in all areas where the Bank operates to encourage the staff to improve on their health while using the opportunity to conscientize. 

This, Dr. Asiama was hopeful, would help to reduce the Central Bank’s expenditure on the staff’s healthcare. 

He said the event was also educate the public to respect and keep the Cedi clean at all times to save the nation scarce resources used to print more Notes.