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By Onzoma AlbertArua City Health experts are warning the public about the increasing cases of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) which are rapidly emerging as significant public health concerns in Uganda, driven by urbanization, changing lifestyles
By Onzoma Albert
Arua City
Health experts are warning the public about the increasing cases of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) which are rapidly emerging as significant public health concerns in Uganda, driven by urbanization, changing lifestyles, and limited healthcare infrastructure.
Hypertension commonly known as high blood pressure, is a critical global health concern and a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which account for a significant proportion of deaths worldwide.
Dr Michael Jurua who works with Arua regional referral hospital calls for stronger policy implementation, healthcare system strengthening, and increased public awareness to mitigate the rising prevalence of hypertension and Cardiovascular Diseases, which according him pose a threat to Uganda's long-term health outcomes.
“Peoples lifestyles have changed so many times where they live a sedentary lifestyles without doing physical exercise, very low vegetable and fruit diets and eat foods with very high calories which increases their weight making them develop obesity and all these things affect the general body but heart suffers the most” he said.
Despite efforts made to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Uganda’s healthcare system faces challenges, such as inadequate funding, shortages of healthcare personnel, limited access to essential medications, and insufficient public health campaigns.
Dr John Omagina who works with Uganda Heart Institute at Mulago National referral Hospital advices the public to change their sedentary lifestyles, in order to mitigate the rising prevalence of hypertension and Cardiovascular Diseases.
“God made us to eat simple food and do physical exercise and nothing happens by accident as a human being was made to leave for one hundred years without replacement of any part of their body but these days you see people getting heart attack, you hear kidney failure and you hear stroke all these are because we don’t mind about what we eat and we don’t do physical exercise regularly” he said.
To combat the growing burden of hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease in Uganda, there is an urgent need for comprehensive public health interventions that prioritize Non-Communicable Diseases alongside infectious diseases.