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The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate has expressed concern over the increasing rate at which hypertensive cases are been recorded in the region and is thus entreating the public to monitor their lifestyle which is believed to be a major cause of the disease.

According to the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang, hypertension is the ninth most reported case at the OPD and second leading cause of hospital admissions in the Ashanti Region as captured in the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS).

At a press briefing to commemorate World Hypertension Day, he explained that per their available data in 2021, it shows that out of 612,000 newly diagnosed cases of Hypertension that were recorded in the country, Ashanti region recorded over 121,000 therefore making the Region one of the highest in the country.

Hypertension is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. As of 2014, nearly 30% of African Adults were estimated to have high blood pressure.

According to the 2014 Ghana Demographic Health Survey, awareness rates are low with only 14% of men and 37% of women aware of their blood pressure status.

The programme also saw the inauguration of Hypertension Champions as major advocates to support education and awareness efforts of the Ghana Health Service.

Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang explained that lately the disease has no age barrier as it was previously detected among the aged, adding that both urban and rural settings have been reporting the cases geographically.

The Ashanti regional directorate of the Ghana Health Service in partnership with Healthy Heart Africa program implemented by PATH Ghana with funding from AstraZeneca is said to have however yielded very significant results in effort to reduce the prevalence of hypertension.

He added that as the implementing partner for Healthy Heart Africa, PATH in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service as at the end of March, 2022 conducted over 1,150,000 blood pressure screenings, identified some 252,000 people with elevated blood pressure and diagnosed over 53,000 people with hypertension who have been linked to health facilities for care.