Hypertension was the major cause of the deaths recorded at the Eastern Regional Hospital in 2018, Hospital Authorities have revealed. HIV/AIDS /Retroviral infection was the top cause of deaths at the facility the year before.

According to statistics, 210 deaths were recorded in 2018 at the facility from 1,131 hypertension cases, representing 13.0% of the total deaths of 1,627 recorded at the Hospital.

HIV/AIDS /Retroviral infection mortality slid to second with an increase from 201 in 2017 to 207 in 2018 however.

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) also known as stroke placed third, killing 105 patients during the year under review. CVA was the leading cause of deaths at the Hospital in 2016.

In his analysis of the situation, Dr. Kwame Anim Boamah, Medical Director at the Eastern Regional Hospital, attributed the rise in cases of hypertension and its related diseases such as stroke to bad lifestyle and irregular blood pressure checkups as well as the failure by patients to adhere strictly to prescribed medication.

He said hypertension in pregnant women was also noticed to be a major contributory factor to the 36 maternal deaths recorded at the facility during the year under review.

Other diseases among the top 10 causes of deaths recorded at the hospital during the year under review were Birth Asphyxia, chronic liver cirrhosis, Septicemia/Sepsis, Pneumonia, Kidney diseases, diabetes Mellitus and Prematurity which in total killed 412 patients at the hospital.

This was revealed during the Hospital’s annual media interaction.

Dr. Boamah said the Hospital has undertaken some capital investment projects and installations of advanced medical equipment including endoscopy and diagnostic laparoscopy to improve quality healthcare delivery and save more lives inline of its vision of being a center of excellence in healthcare delivery.

Meanwhile, Management of the Hospital expressed its commitments to partnering the media to intensify health awareness in the region to ensure that the public desist from bad lifestyle perilous to their health inorder reduce the worrying trend.