Community Receives Free Hypertension Screening, Drugs

Residents of Ikeja, Lagos, and its environs have received free hypertension screening and drugs distribution sponsored by Nigerian drug manufacturing firm Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc.

This is coming as a result the health scheme, Fight the Good Fight Against Hypertension (FITGAH), introduced by the drug firm. It is an approach targeting the upsurge of Hypertension and its consequences with affordable of anti-hypertensive drugs as the weapon to reduce the disease among Nigerians.

The hypertension screening is in line with Neimeth’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to give back to the community, where it operates as it joins rest of the world to mark World Heart Day.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the firm Emmanuel Ekunno, disclosed that hypertension is better prevented because medical science has no cure as yet for it; drugs can only manage it.

The recommendation tips include checking the blood pressure at least twice a year, from the age of 18, exercising, finding time to relax, and making other lifestyle choices in diet, including eating food rich in fruits and vegetables, reducing intake of alcohol and avoiding smoking.

Ekunno informed that the major challenge in Nigeria and Africa is heart disease, which causes hypertension. Once the heart is affected the whole body would be affected, as heart is the major organ of the body, he noted.

Ekunno said: “Our corporate decision to reduce the prices of our anti hypertensive by over 50 per cent means more affordability of these essential drugs to Nigerians. Hypertension, like other non-communicable diseases prevalence is high and on the increase. Hypertension is assuming an epidemic status causing strokes, kidney damages, sudden deaths, heart attacks, heart failure, arrhythmia, and other forms of cardiovascular incidents and disease among others.”

In furtherance of this scheme, we are adopting an innovative Corporate Social Responsibility model of aligning with a select group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), professional bodies like the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF), Nigeria Cardiac Society (NCS), Hypertension Society of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Health, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) with a view to inviting and frontally fighting hypertension therefore, checking mating the consequences.

Meanwhile, Financial Director, Mmeje Chris said the money that was used to sponsor the project was taken from the profits of the company. He said for a very long time Neimeth has been taken small among of money from its profits in order to care for the society.
Mmeje further explained that the free screening is still ongoing for any Nigerians who wish to check their blood pressure.