During this year’s World Heart Day celebrations at Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, Dr Kow Entsua‑Mensah, Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, cautioned that cardiovascular disease is increasingly claiming the lives of Ghanaians at younger ages. He said that many deaths in the 30‑to‑50 age bracket happen because people do not know they have a heart condition until a serious complication arises.
“A lot of people are working with a disease in their bodies, but because they don’t check, they cannot find it,” Dr Entsua‑Mensah said. He added that Ghana’s readiness to respond to cardiovascular emergencies needs improvement, making prevention and early detection especially important.
He urged citizens to take responsibility for their heart health by exercising regularly, eating healthier meals, getting adequate sleep and undergoing routine health checks. “We want to focus on the prevention,” he said, stressing that people should not wait until a health emergency occurs before seeking medical attention.
Dr Entsua‑Mensah also called for greater public awareness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and basic emergency response, noting that ordinary citizens can help save lives when they know how to respond when someone collapses or stops breathing. “You don’t have to be a health person,” he said. “Anybody who gets the opportunity should learn how to respond when somebody collapses, somebody is unconscious or somebody stops breathing.”
As part of the World Heart Day activities, the National Cardiothoracic Centre partnered with St John Ambulance to provide emergency response training. Stronger prevention, early detection and public knowledge of emergency response could help reduce avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease, the director said.
