As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the World Hypertension Day, which has as theme ‘Measure your blood pressure accurately, control it, live longer,’ medical experts, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF), have warned that the prevalence of hypertension in the country is on the rise. This, they said is, due to prevailing insecurity and poor socioeconomic condition.
Specifically, Executive Director of NHF, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, yesterday, told The Guardian that the prevalence of hypertension is estimated to be between 30 and 40 per cent of Nigeria’s over 200 million population, which is in the range of 60 to 80 million Nigerians.
He had, last year, told The Guardian that the prevalence of hypertension in the country was as much as 38.1 per cent.
Akinroye, who is also a consultant cardiologist, said, almost one in three adults suffers from hypertension, while only one third of this figure (about 26.7 million Nigerians) are on treatment.
He said a survey by the NHF showed the awareness of hypertension is more in the urban than rural areas and more amongst women than men.
“Since the onset of COVID-19 in Nigeria, we have evidence that more people with heart disease have been affected or died from the pandemic than any other illness. Also, we are aware that the cost of treatment with anti-hypertensive drugs has gone up.”
He noted that the ideal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg, but in Nigeria, normal blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg. “Any figure higher than 140 mmHg for systolic blood pressure or 90 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure is regarded as hypertension.”
Another hypertension expert, Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences and Director, Centre for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof. Mayowa Owolabi, said about 50 million Nigerians and nearly half of those above 25 years are hypertensive at Blood Pressure (BP) greater and equal to 140/90 mmHg.
