Ghana must actively screen healthy people for hypertension and chronic disease -CDD
A Fellow in Public Health at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, has said Ghana must move from a healthcare system that waits for sick people to report to hospitals to one that actively screens apparently healthy people for chronic diseases.
Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, a Fellow in Public Health at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has advocated for Ghana to shift from a healthcare system that only responds to sick individuals to one that actively screens apparently healthy people for chronic diseases. During a discussion on hypertension on Joy FM Super Morning Show, Asiedu highlighted that many people in Ghana could be living with hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases without knowing it, as these conditions often show no obvious symptoms.
He pointed out that a significant percentage of Ghanaians, around 70%, may be hypertensive without awareness.
Asiedu emphasized the necessity of extending this concern to cardiovascular diseases more broadly, including conditions related to high cholesterol. He argued that many individuals in Ghana could have elevated cholesterol levels without realizing it. The lack of widespread screening for chronic diseases is partly to blame, as it allows undiagnosed conditions to persist.
In contrast, countries that implement routine screening starting at certain ages, such as the United Kingdom, have a better chance of identifying diseases earlier. In the UK, for instance, people receive messages encouraging screening around their 40th birthday and again after 50.
Asiedu called for Ghana to adopt a similar approach, moving away from a system that primarily responds to symptoms and towards a proactive one that identifies well individuals who may already have underlying conditions. He stressed that Ghana's healthcare system has historically depended on patients seeking medical care after becoming unwell, but this model is being reversed.
The focus should now be on identifying those who appear healthy but may already have an underlying condition. Asiedu also linked the issue to the prevalence of erectile dysfunction, noting that some men might develop symptoms due to underlying health issues but may resort to unregulated remedies instead of seeking proper medical diagnosis.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
