By Sandra Machima
Government is in the process of equipping the national heart hospital with additional state of the art equipment, says Lusaka Province Minister Sheal Mulyata.
Ms. Mulyata said as the country aspires to attain a prosperous middle income country by 2030 vision, the national heart hospital, which is a dedicated structure for the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in children and adult patients is unveiled.
She said out of about 650,000 babies that are born in Zambia every year, 6,000 of them are likely to be born with heart disease.
She said various interventions and surgeries will now be possible in Zambia to reduce the expenditure on treatment abroad, adding that a healthy and productive population is catalytic to socio-economic development.
The Minister said the facility will become a Centre of Excellence for cardiac care in the country and the region.
She said this during the commemoration of World Heart Day that was celebrated under the theme, “Use heart to connect every heart for healthy living amidst covid-19”.
She further said Government has a role to play in building healthy communities by implementing policies and initiatives that will lead to better societal heart health.
She disclosed that Government is placing high taxes on the importation or production of tobacco products to help reverse the tobacco epidemic, which has hit young people.
She said high blood pressure, diabetes, harmful consumption of alcohol, cigarette smoking and unhealthy diet are huge contributors to heart disease in the country and she has since advised youths to desist from shisha and e-cigarettes consumption, she said are a danger to health.
We need to encomparate nutritional science approach in our health care system otherwise, all will be in vain.
Good move we can only hope that such health services can be decentralized to all the 10 provinces in future.
This is good, the last heart operations was successful, according to one doctor from Kabwe who was among the doctors said one segury was talk almost 6to 10 hours, am sure with the equipment Wil see an improvement
Hope this will not end at talking.
Otherwise this is good news. Vascular diseases are looming and many souls have been claimed.
This is proggresive in that mostly they has being an increase in the number of people suffering with cardivascular diseases such as heart problem and this has come at the right time
this is progress. health is wealth