By Gabriel Olawale

World Stroke Day is observed and celebrated every October 29. The global awareness day is intended to underscore the serious nature and high rates of stroke, raise awareness on prevention and treatment as well as promote better care and support for survivors.

According to research, high blood pressure is one of the biggest risk factors for stroke and causes over half of stroke cases globally. Blood pressure more than 120/90mmHg is considered high and more often than not, high blood pressure also known as hypertension shows no symptoms.

Over the past few weeks, leading African health tech startup, Wellahealth has carried out free blood pressure tests to over 100,000 Nigerians across its 600 partner pharmacies.

The exercise which commenced on the 29th of September and ends on 29th of October is aimed at raising awareness and joining the global fight against cardiovascular diseases to minimize mortality, especially among young adults. In a recent study, an estimated 10-15% of all first-ever strokes occur in young adults which results in a yearly stroke incidence of at least 1.5 million young people.

Dr Neto Ikpeme- CEO, Wella Health stated “Cardiovascular diseases including stroke are often considered diseases for older adults however an increasing number of medical studies have revealed an alarmingly high incidence in young adults. CVDs can affect anyone and at any age. With this exercise, we have been able to screen over and above 100,000 people, offered personalised advice to avoid stroke and heart attack and given discounts on medications at our partner pharmacies nationwide.”

“We would like to encourage Nigerians, especially young people, to carry out regular blood pressure checks. It is important because high blood pressure usually has no symptoms and cannot be detected without being measured. It is the number one risk factor for stroke and often considered a silent killer.”

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Experts have revealed that the primary causes of cardiovascular diseases are smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and the harmful use of alcohol which in turn show up in people as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and obesity. Lifestyle changes including healthy eating, regular physical activity, and quitting tobacco use are advised to minimize the risk of stroke.

Wellahealth is a health technology startup, focused on providing affordable and accessible high-quality healthcare protection for all Africans. For more information follow on Instagram and Twitter

Vanguard