According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 17.9 million people worldwide died from cardiovascular diseases in 2019, contributing to 35% of global deaths.

In Uganda, coronary heart disease deaths reached 10,442, an estimate of 42% of total deaths. (WHO, 2018). Similarly, a report by the Uganda Heart Institute indicated that one in four adults in Uganda have high blood pressure implying that 25% of the adult population in Uganda have heart complications.

One can take measures to prevent heart disease, including avoiding tobacco use, maintaining a healthy weight, staying active, eating well, and controlling cholesterol and blood pressure.

According to Stella Nambooze, the Nutritionist at Nakasero Hospital, individuals should eat plenty of vegetables, bananas, soar tomatoes, potassium, and iron meals to keep their hearts healthy.

Because most cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, have no symptoms until after significant damage to the heart and arteries, many have lost their lives because they didn’t know they had the disease.

Routine heart check-ups and screening enable your doctor to identify any potential heart problems as soon as possible, enabling timely diagnosis and treatment of any underlying heart conditions.

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Adults should have regular heart screening at least once a year.

Dr. Charles Musoke

Nakasero Hospital screens and manages heart conditions such as high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and vessel diseases like blocked vessels,” said Dr. Charles Musoke, Consultant Cardiologist at Nakasero Hospital.

He added that Nakasero Hospital has a Catheterization Lab where patients’ vessels are checked and opened up if blocked.

Given the increasing number of people with heart complications, there is a need to create awareness around heart diseases, prevention, and management. This way, people will eat healthily and have regular heart check-ups and screening to enable early diagnosis and treatment of any existing heart diseases.

To effectively counter the effect of cardiovascular disease on the population, Nakasero Hospital has set us a one stop Cardiac and Wellness Centre to offer a comprehensive solution to this problem.

The services offered here include Consultant level Outpatient consultation, Echocardiography, Resting and Stress ECG, Holter monitoring, Catheterization laboratory and general medical check-ups. This combination of services ensures that your cardio health is checked and monitored at all times to minimize the impact of a new condition.