A healthy lifestyle for a healthy heart

By Jacky Achan

One in every four adults in Uganda has hypertension (high blood pressure) and a heart disease. Dr. John Omagino, the executive director of Uganda Heart Institute, says mismanagement of lifestyle is to blame.

"Our diet is high on carbohydrates and low on fruits, vegetables and vitamins, making us candidates for heart disease. People with money eat junk food and use the car at all times, which is harmful to the body," he says.

According to Omagino, it is worrying that schools now operate in flats and they no longer have playgrounds. institutions such as the prisons, police and army used to have sports facilities, clubs and competitions everywhere.

"Everyone in the public service had to exercise and the government used to examine everyone's health. But now, it is only in the aviation sector where pilots are subjected to heart and medical checks as is the international standard practice. This policy has to be revisited," he said.

How to curb heart disease

Omagino says awareness is key. "Every doctor, nurse, midwife and medical personnel must be able to identify anomalies for the appropriate course of action to be taken, either at birth or when the baby is brought for immunisation. We must have a medical assistant at every health centre III at sub-county level and a doctor at every health centre IV. "Penicillin (Pen-V), used to treat sore throats, is the cheapest drug available. It must be made available countrywide to avert heart disease," he says.

In addition, every child joining another level of study must be subjected to a health check. Schools need to create play environments for children. It is best to engage the children 30% in academics and 70% in physical exercise to aid their all-round growth. Our system must encourage a mandatory heart check-up. Every baby must be examined for heart anomalies upon birth.

In Uganda, 1% of every baby born has a heart defect. With a population of about 38 million people, an annual population growth rate of 3.3%, it means annually, we increase by 1.8 million people "If we are to take the 1% born with heart defects, it means we have 18,000 babies born with heart defects in the country every year," Omagino says.

Indicators of a child with a heart defect

• Normally two things happen. Either the child's heart beats so fast or they get tired fast.
• The child is inactive
• The child does not breastfeed well
• The child does not put on weight like other children.

As the population increases, we must catch this disease through mandatory checks. People should at least be assessed once a year for good health. "If you cannot control what you eat, then exercise," Omagino says a normal human being should be able to walk one mile or 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy.

According to the World Heart Federation, about 17.5 million people died from cardiovascular disease in 2005, representing 30% of global deaths. That was more than the victims of cancer, HIV/AIDS and malaria. The World Health Organisation has a target to reduce non-communicable disease mortality rate by 2025 by reducing premature deaths caused by cardiovascular disease.