Find out why more Ugandan are dying of high blood pressure

The world last week marked the International Health Day, with special focus on high blood pressure or hypertension, a non-communicable disease that, according to reports, is killing more people than the infectious diseases.

The World Health Organisation report of 2012 notes that one in three adults suffers from high blood pressure, a key cause of strokes and heart disease.
According to the report, African countries are the most affected with up to 50 per cent of their adult populace suffering from high blood pressure.

Information from the ministry of health indicates that about 40 per cent of the population is suffering from high blood pressure followed by heart disease at 12.7 per cent and diabetes at 10 per cent. And many more die undiagnosed because of lack of health facilities or lack of treatment due to high cost.

Dr Vincent Karuhanga, notes that in Uganda more than 55 per cent of the deaths are due to lifestyle diseases, 55 per cent are caused by high blood pressure, heart diseases, diabetes and cancer. He also notes that the diseases account for half of all hospital admissions with non-communicable diseases.

"Many Ugandans today are suffering from lifestyle diseases, the most prevalent being hypertension or high blood pressure. The disease is among the category of the so-called 'rich men's diseases', however, high blood pressure does not discriminate whether you are poor or rich as long as you do not take precautions in your diet," says Karuhanga.

Dr Asuman Lukwago, the permanent secretary Ministry of Health, also avers that cases of lifestyle diseases have been on the rise and that they are, if combined, killing more people than infectious diseases today.

"We don't know the extent of the prevalence of high blood pressure since we are yet to carry out a nation-wide survey, but what is certain is that from the small studies done so far, 3 per cent of urban children have at least two of the lifestyle disease, a trend we realised if not checked early, will result in a calamity," says Dr. Lukwago.

Why the increasing number

Karuhanga attributes the increasing trend of high blood pressure to people, especially those living a 'fast-life', abandoning the traditional diets in favour of the junk food.

"A lot of things have changed these days, I see many young people munching on chips, deep-fried chicken wings, crisps, carbonated soft drinks, cakes, and other eatables which do not significantly add value to their health. Even some women do not cook the traditional foodstuffs in their homes, all they do is rush to a nearby restaurant to buy fast foods," he says.

He also says that most people are too busy with work and chasing after money, and as a result care less about doing exercises.

"Regular exercise is important in a person's life, but you can imagine that there are people who take years without even doing simple exercises like running around their compounds. People are busy chasing after money than caring about their health by way of regular exercises," he elaborates.

According to the doctor, stress is another leading cause of high blood pressure among other complications. "The economic factors are putting a lot of stress on so many people, people are worried about where money will come from, others are worried about how they will pay fees for their children especially when school term opens. Even married couples get stressed when they get misunderstandings and this may bring about high blood pressure," Karuhanga explains. 

No data on high blood pressure

Lukwago says that government is working out modalities to carry out a comprehensive survey in the next financial year to establish the prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, agreeing to the fact that over time, not much attention has been given to address the health crisis because of lack of, among others, reliable data.

"Yes, we have been having a problem of lack of reliable data on these non-communicable diseases, but you are also aware that carrying out surveys of this nature need a lot of money, which money we have not been having. That notwithstanding, I am happy to announce that we have planned it this coming financial year to plan for a nation-wide survey to try and establish the extent of prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes and among other diseases," says Lukwago.