Health experts in the North Rift region have raised alarm over rising cardiovascular cases in the region due to unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. This comes even as the Eldoret Hospital unveiled a first state-of-art heart facility, which will serve patients from the North Rift and Western region ....CONTINUE READING
Dr Felix Barasa, a cardiologist at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Moi University, said heart attacks are worryingly becoming more prevalent in the region. “This facility will be significant because it means that patients will get timely attention. Previously, they had to travel all the way to Nairobi for medical attention. The lucky ones could use air travel but for those who could not afford, it meant that they spend six hours on the road and by the time they reach their organs will have suffered damaged,” explained Dr Barasa, also a consultant physician and cardiologist at Eldoret Hospital.
He noted that at the clinic they attend to 30 cases per week, down from five cases a decade ago.
The hospital’s laboratory has an equipment that uses an x-ray to show a patient’s anatomy and capture the canary arteries to identify a problem and show it on the screen. It can serve up to 15 patients in a single day.
Sumesh Sukumaran, a nurse at the heart facility, stated that chest pains, profuse sweating, pain radiating to the left hand, and heaviness are some of the common symptoms of cardiac-related ailments.
He explained that diabetes, obesity and lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise, unhealthy eating and smoking are some of the risk factors that predispose individuals to heart diseases.
“Some people associate chest pain to gas formation as a result of certain foods. But if the problem persists, then one needs to consult a doctor. Otherwise the patient will end up collapsing due to a cardiac arrest,” stated the nurse.
Last year in August, the Kenya Cardiac Society noted that about 30 per cent of admissions to hospitals are due to non-communicable diseases, with a bulk of them being cardiovascular diseases.
The society further observed that 15 per cent of all hospital deaths in the past five years are due to cardiovascular diseases, terming the situation costly for the country.
Dr Prabhudas Lodhia, the director at Eldoret Hospital, said the collaboration between the facility and Asahi Intec, a manufacturing Japanese company will help to bridge the cardiovascular care gap in the region.
“Previously, patients were airlifted to Nairobi for diagnosis and surgery but we decided to set up this facility after witnessing rising cases of heart disease in the region,” stated Dr Lodhia.
Ogihara Hiroshi, the deputy chief of mission, Embassy of Japan to Kenya, said the Japanese government will continue to foster knowledge transfer between Kenya and Japan.
“I want to emphasise that we will continue to seek collaboration between the two countries. The Japanese approach comes with the knowledge transfer and we are optimistic that this partnership will continue,” explained the diplomat.
