Prof. Charles Yankah
Co-Founder of German Heart Centre Berlin, Germany, Prof. Charles Yankah has urged Ghanaians to prioritize their heart care needs as many deaths are recorded daily as a result of cardiovascular diseases.
According to Prof. Yankah, prioritizing heart health is important because heart disease does not only kill more people, but also affects mental health.
“Starting small by taking a daily walk or replacing fast food with home-cooked meals which include vegetables can be great ways to start in order to reduce chances of cardiovascular diseases,” he said.
He urged people above 50 years or those with a family history of cardiovascular disease to talk to their doctor about getting screened.
Prof. Yankah made this statement at the 2023 Heart Walk Accra yesterday organized by Global Heart Care in conjunction with German Heart Centre in Berlin, World Health Summit.
The heart walk was aimed at raising public awareness about cardiovascular diseases.
Prof. Yankah also announced the annual Heart Valve Awareness Day scheduled for Wednesday, February 22, 2023.
According to him, the awareness day will highlight the increasing recognition of the specific risks and symptoms of heart valve diseases, improve detection and treatment and ultimately save lives.
“The heart walk exercise is a prelude to the annual heart valve awareness day. The awareness day will emphasize the devastating effects of hard drugs and how to prevent them. We will also seize the opportunity to advocate for an early diagnosis checkup in other to have a better outcome for medical and surgical treatment” he said.
Presidential Advisor on Heart, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, reiterated the government’s commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the country following the implementation of the agenda 111 projects among many other health projects purposely targeted at the needy and deprived communities.
“We want to achieve UHC that is why the government is bent on delivering its mandates of implementing agenda 111 to have health facilities in every district of this country with the hope that we don’t have to walk a long distance to access health care, “ he said.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke