Nana Yaa Konadu, New Juaben North Municipal Director of Health has advised the public to cultivate the habit of drinking more water to keep their hearts healthy.

She said the soft drinks, which many preferred, contained high sugary substances that could raise their sugar levels exposing them to cardiovascular diseases.

Ms Konadu was speaking at the observation of the World Heart Day at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

The function was organised by the Stroke Association Support Network of Ghana (SASNET).

She said, for the last three years, stroke and cardiovascular diseases were among the 10 causes of deaths in the Eastern Region, and in 2019 alone, 410 were killed by stroke while 269 people died from hypertension.

Ms Konadu said stroke and many cardiovascular diseases were preventable by living healthy lifestyles.

She called on the public to reduce their salt intake, drinking of alcoholic beverages, smoking, eating of fatty foods, and exercise regularly.

The Eastern Regional Chairman of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Coalition in Health, Mr Emmanuel Minta called for the enforcement of the rules on the use of pesticides to protect the environment and ensure that farmers produced healthy crops for the Ghanaian market.

He called on the government to enforce the laws on smoking in public places and to promote regenerative lifestyles to help improve the quality of health of the people in the country.

Ms Juliet Anaglo on behalf of the President of SASNET, Chief Dr Ben S. Jabuni, called on the government to treat stroke and cardiovascular diseases as public health emergency and develop policies and provide resources for their treatment.

She called on the public to seek immediate health attention at the nearest health institution or called the ambulance when they or their relations have symptoms of heart attack or stroke.