Deputy Ashanti Regional Director Health (Clinical), Dr. Fred Adomako-Boateng, has expressed deep concern over the upsurge of cardiovascular diseases and is urging people to go for regular heart check.

Statistics at the National Cardiothoracic Centre show that 60 per cent of adults among the nation’s adults is caused by heart-related diseases and stroke.

Additionally, between six and eight per cent of the adult population is diabetic, 13-25 per cent hypertensive and six per cent, having high cholesterol.

Dr. Adomako-Boateng described the figures as disturbing and a big worry to the health authorities.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the Michael Peter’s Heart Foundation, an NGO in health, in Kumasi.

It seeks to support the fight to bring down heart diseases, diabetes and hypertension as well as the treatment of patients with ventricular septal defects (hole-in-the-heart).

The Deputy Regional Health Director said there was an urgent need to scale up public education to aid the people to adopt healthy lifestyles.

Checking and controlling risk factors for heart diseases, he noted, was critical towards maintaining a healthy population, adding that, 80 per cent of premature heart attacks and stroke were preventable.

Dr. Adomako-Boateng identified raised blood pressure, glucose and lipids, overweight and obesity among symptoms of cardiovascular diseases and said these could be easily measured in the primary care facilities.

The Founder and President of the Foundation, Mr. Gilbert Owusu-Baafi, said its focus was to help significantly reduce heart-related diseases through research support and awareness creation.