The annual cardiovascular disease summit to improve awareness and management of common cardiovascular risk factors such as raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels and obesity was held in Accra.
The summit was also to provide healthcare practitioners an avenue to engage in robust discussions on the latest trends in cardiovascular disease, its management, encourage the use of general treatment guidelines and recommendations for the management of patients with cardiovascular disease.
The summit, which brought together both national and international health professionals, was also to deliberate on the rising burden of the disease in sub-Sahara Africa and Ghana.
The summit is organized by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
Dr Patrick Adjei ,Consultant Neurologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said the diseases are quite common, stressing that lot of young children who had become fat and obese were at risk of stroke, heart attacks and diabetes.
Dr Adjei said there was the need to create the awareness to reduce the incidence of these diseases and that mortality rate would go up once there was the incidence of hypertension, high blood pressure and diabetes and stroke which is heart attack from the brain.
He said the summit served as a continuous professional education and a training platform for the clinicians to be abreast with the standard practice.
Dr Adjei urged all to increase the level of physical activities, that is exercise at least 20 minutes a day, reduce the intake of too much oily food, have regular and yearly checks to know the level of blood pressure as a way to manage the disease.
Dr Vincent Boima, a kidney disease Specialist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic lung diseases, acute lung diseases and injuries were the top killers in the world.
He said other strategies recommended for the fight against cardiovascular diseases included control of high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure and the eating of healthy foods.
Dr Iqbal Omar, Senior Regional Medical Director, Emerging Markets Africa and Middle East, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, said the summit formed part of Pfizer’s contribution to the advancement of medical knowledge and patient care in Ghana and Africa.
He said this further exemplified the commitment of Pfizer to world class medical education, capacity building and excellence in service to the Ghanaian health sector.
He pledged Pfizer’s commitment towards setting the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines for people and animals.
He said their diversified global health care portfolio included human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines as well as nutritional products and many of the world’s best-known consumer products.
Dr Omar pledged Pfizer’s readiness to collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world, adding that for more than 150 years, Pfizer had worked to make a difference for all who relied on them.
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