Accra: The University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) has observed its maiden World Heart Day, calling for a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach to heart management, stressing the importance of early detection of risk factors.

According to Ghana News Agency, Dr. Abdul-Samed Tanko, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the UGMC, underscored the seriousness of heart failure, noting its high mortality rate around 50 percent within five years. He also advocated for the immediate establishment of a dedicated heart clinic. “Heart failure is a very dreadful disease. once you are at the grasp of heart failure, your mortality within five years is about 50 percent,” he said.

Dr. Tanko elaborated that due to the multi-faceted nature of the condition, its management must be multi-disciplinary, involving experts from medicine, pharmacy, gastroenterology, and specialised heart failure nurses, among others. He cited evidence to show that patients managed collectively within a specialised heart failure clinic fared better t
han those managed in a general clinic setting.

The CEO highlighted hypertension as the primary precursor to heart failure, urging the public to be vigilant about their health metrics, including blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and Body Mass Index (BMI). “We need to really take care of ourselves very well, know our numbers, our blood pressures, our sugars, our cholesterol, our weight BMI, so that once we have these factors, we are able to address them, we’ll be able to address high blood pressure and treat people early and avoid heart failure in these patients,” he said.

Dr. Tanko indicated that the subsequent editions of the event would focus more on advocacy and preventative calls for the public to prioritise their cardiac health. Dr. Martin Adu-Adadey, Head of the Cardiology, UGMC, emphasised that heart disease was largely preventable through the management of modifiable risk factors. Dr. Adadey identified modifiable risk factors as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, all of whic
h could be controlled through medication.

He particularly recommended physical exercise as a transformative element in heart health management. “You can reduce your blood pressure by about 20 millimetres of mercury if you exercise like three times a week.” He suggested a minimum of a 30-minute walk, which can be split into two 15-minute segments, morning and evening. He noted that regular exercise could significantly reduce the amount of medication needed to control blood pressure, possibly requiring only a single tablet.

World Heart Day, established by the World Heart Federation, is observed globally on September 29 to raise awareness about heart diseases, heart attacks, and strokes, which claim the lives of over 60 million people annually.