Abuja: Dr. Oladipupo Fasan, Head of Cardiology at the National Hospital, Abuja, has underscored the critical need for evidence-based practice, a well-trained health workforce, and effective policy implementation to control hypertension in Nigeria. Fasan, who also serves as Secretary-General of the Nigerian Hypertension Society, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Fasan noted that the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially hypertension, reflects an ongoing epidemiological transition in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa. “We had always battled communicable diseases, but now we have progressed into the non-communicable disease era,” he said. Highlighting hypertension’s central role in cardiovascular disease, Fasan compared it to the hub of a wheel, with complications such as heart failure, stroke, blindness, and kidney failure radiating outward as spokes.
He stressed that hypertension awareness, prevention, treatment, and control must remain national priorities, calling for increased collaboration and a holistic approach to tackle the problem, from community-level health mobilisation to national policy change. Fasan emphasised the importance of education, data analysis, and policy as key aspects of blood pressure control, asserting that “everything we do in medicine is because we have evidence that it works.”
Fasan also highlighted the necessity of quality research and data analysis in designing or implementing effective interventions. He underscored the importance of a well-trained health workforce, warning that “a health professional that is not well-trained is worse than even a herbalist.” While acknowledging the role of individual clinicians and organisations in offering care, Fasan argued that lasting impact lies in effective public policy.
Citing salt-reduction strategies in Scandinavian countries that significantly improved cardiovascular health, he stated, “One single right policy can affect the whole nation positively.” He commended the Federal Government’s recent introduction of a National Salt Reduction Policy, calling it a bold and strategic step. Fasan advocated for task-shifting in Nigeria’s doctor-led health system, urging that hypertension care, especially at the primary healthcare level, be delegated to trained community health workers.
He expressed concern over Nigeria’s ongoing brain drain crisis in the health sector and suggested that empowering lower-tier health workers might be the most effective and sustainable approach to reduce the incidence of strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failures, particularly in rural and underserved communities.