By CHIOMA OBINNA

AS Nigeria joined the world to mark this year’s World Heart Day, a medical expert have urged Federal Government to subsidise the cost of treatment of cardiovascular diseases CVDs and associated non-communicable diseases, NCDs such as cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

Speaking in Lagos, President, African Heart Network, Dr.  Kingsley Akinroye, urged government to pay more attention to the health risks caused by urban air pollution through the implementation of effective policies on environmental health.

Akinroye who is also Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foundation,    affirmed that  such initiative would enable millions of Nigerians grappling with the burden of  CVDs and NCDs live a meaningful life.

Stressing the importance of the theme, of the Day “One World, One Home, Akinroye remarked: “Ïn a situation whereby the increasing cases of Nigerians coming down with high blood pressure, patients suffering from this disease would need to spend at least N120, 000 annually on a dosage of drug even as a combination of two or more drugs is required.

“This not only further impoverishes the family in a bid to manage such an ailment but continues to cripple the finances of those trying to manage such a condition. This also jeopardises the nation’s economy as no current framework is in place to make drugs for hypertension affordable and accessible to those who need them.

Akinroye, who was a delegate at the just- concluded UN High Level Summit on NCDs, said it was agreed that governments across the world would vote the sum of $1.2 million monthly to subsidise cost of hypertensive drugs.

“We must strengthen health systems so that NCDs can be addressed at primary healthcare levels everywhere.”

Further, he urged government to prioritise  the reduction of the cost of drugs for CVDs in the country.

In his own view, Johanna Raiston, Chief Executive Director, World Heart Federation  said majority of deaths associated with hypertension could be prevented by a healthy diet.

He advised Nigerians to adopt the habit of regular physical activity, avoidance of tobacco use,  and general heart healthiness as everyone’s responsibility.

Also speaking, NHF Director of Tobacco, Mr. Dapo  Rotifa, identified generator fumes as a major cause of CVDs and other NCDs and explained that it was such negative effects that made western nations to source alternative sources of energy to make the environment conducive for healthy living.