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Stroke (cerebrovascular accident) in Ghana
Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease that affects many people in the world, and a significant cause of morbidity in Ghana. It is estimated that 9% of the general deaths in Ghana is from stroke disease making it one of the top two killer diseases. Stroke causes disability in the body, which includes brain damage, muscle weakness, facial numbness, and difficulty in speech. Besides the effects on a person’s body, stroke reduces the quality of life making one’s life less active in normal daily activities.
The rise of cardiovascular diseases in Ghana, according to research, has been unprecedented since 1953[iii]. Stroke used to be the tenth leading cause of death in Accra in 1953 and seventh in 1966. Recent statistics shows that it is the number one leading cause of death since 1991 and 2001. In a study conducted at Kole-Bu teaching hospital, one of Ghana’s largest health facilities in Accra, between 1994 and 1998, about 69% of stroke patients died within 24 hours[iv]. The menace shows how the lifestyle of the greater part of the Ghanaian populace has changed over the past 20 years.
Major cause of stroke in Ghana
Stroke is a lifestyle disease meaning it is associated with a person’s daily behavior in life. It involves one’s eating habit, drugs and alcohol, sedentariness, and stresses in life. In Ghana, increasing rate of High Blood Pressure (systematic hypertension) is identified as a major risk factor in several stroke patients. Hypertension affects nearly one out of every five Ghanaians and is mostly as a result of unhealthy lifestyle[v]. Hypertension causes stroke because it damages most of the vital organs such as the brain, heart and kidneys. It has been noted as the silent killer. A person suffering from hypertension is potentially at risk of stroke if unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are not adjusted. Now I will talk about the second prominent disease in Ghana, which is malaria.
Malaria in Ghana
Malaria is everywhere in Ghana. It is so far the commonest disease in the country. Children and pregnant women are mostly at risk of Malaria infection. About 3.5 million people contract the disease every year. According to UNICEF, a total number of 20,000 deaths occur in children under five years every year. That means a child dies every 30 seconds and about 3,000 deaths every day[vi]. On the average, 8% of the general deaths are caused by malaria making it third killer disease in Ghana. Foreigners who come to Ghana are always advised to take anti-malaria pills before their arrival, and to see medical attention upon their return.
Malaria is acquired from mosquito bite but not from all mosquitoes. There are more than 3, 500 species of mosquitoes and only the female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles transmit human malaria[vii]. They carry the plasmodium parasite that causes malaria after their bite. Mosquitoes survive rapidly in tropical zones because of the ambient temperature and humidity that enables the growth of the parasite. Because Ghana is tropical and mostly humid, careless environmental concerns breed greater number of mosquitoes. In fact, filth, weeds, stagnant waters, dirty gutters, lakes and lagoons, empty cans, refuse dumbs, and improper sewages are major depositories of mosquitoes. The best way to fight malaria is cleanliness. Cleanliness drives mosquitoes away. However, this cleanliness has to be communal else one will still get mosquitoes’ bite from the next neighborhood. And since mosquitoes usually bite at night, they are almost like invisibles until you feel their bite or hear their annoying flying buzz in your ears.
Conclusion
Both stroke and malaria are top killer diseases in Ghana because of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Nevertheless, healthy precautions can help a person to avoid being a statistic. Even though I have not personally been affected by stroke, I have seen several people who have suffered from the disease. I can count not more than ten who never survived it. Understanding its risk factors and side effects, I have taken serious concerns to my diet and lifestyle. I used to eat junk foods and oily products a lot. Since these things are contributing factors to cardiovascular diseases, I have taken a deliberate action to reform my eating habits for the past two years. I now eat more vegetables and avoid fatty and industrialized foods at all cost. I try to walk at least 10 minutes a day whiles engaging in active household works such as scrubbing floors and washing dishes. In order to understand healthy lifestyle behaviors, I occasionally invite my sisters to watch healthy talks on YouTube and other media sources; at least once every month. This has influenced our household menus.
The same precautions are taken against being infected with malaria. I suffered from Malaria a lot whiles living in Ghana because I was careless of using repellants or mosquito nets. Now that I live in the United States where malaria is rare, I feel relieved from the pestilences of malaria. But I understand this is just a while since I will be visiting my home country next year. In order not to be victimized this time, I will take anti-malaria injection and carry along malaria drugs. Also, I will not take it for granted to use mosquito repellant creams and mosquito nets. Again, I have made a budget to buy some mosquito nets for my family back home. As it is often said, “prevention is better than cure”. Both stroke and malaria can make one’s life miserable and rip off economic wealth. With extra caution and reforms in lifestyle behavior, life can be good, and our health and wealth will improve significantly.
[i] From the 2010 Population & Housing Census, Summary Report of Final Results. Ghana Statistical Service May, 2012, http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfile...20-%202016.pdf
[ii] World Health Organization (WHO), “Statistical Profile of Ghana”, http://www.who.int/gho/countries/gha.pdf?ua=1
[iii] C. Agyemang, et al, "Stroke in Ashanti Region of Ghana".
Ghana Med J. 2012 Jun; 46(2 Suppl): 12–17. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3645146/
[iv] Ibid.
[v] https://www.modernghana.com/news/140...-diseases.html
[vi] UNICEF Ghana Fact Sheet (2007), Malaria. https://www.unicef.org/wcaro/WCARO_G...et_malaria.pdf
[vii] “Anopheles Mosquitoes”, https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/
Written by Clifford Owusu-Gyamfi