Ugandans to get free heart check-ups, assessment during Omutima gwo campaign
Prudential Uganda has launched the fourth edition of its annual “Omutima Gwo” campaign aimed at creating awareness on heart health with a focus on prevention, detection, treatment, and reversal of heart related diseases.
The campaign was launched in partnership with the Uganda Heart Institute and Ministry of Health.
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Speaking during the launch, Arjun Mallik, the Regional CEO for Prudential East and Central Africa explained that good health is a key component of our daily lives and collective effort towards better awareness and lifestyle is the best investment any community can make.
“As a business, promoting wellness within communities where we operate is important to us. Whether it is spreading awareness around mental health or cardiovascular health, Prudential remains committed to improving lives. By sponsoring the Omutima Gwo campaign for four years we have impacted positively the lives of 12 million Ugandans with the information they need on prevention, detection, treatment, and reversal of heart related diseases,” Arjun said.
The Omutima Gwo campaign was first launched in 2018 and has since been held annually.
Two heart camps have been held so far in 2018 and 2019 giving over 5000 Ugandans the opportunity to get free heart health checks.
Over 12 million Ugandans have also received heart health messages on how to amend their lifestyle to prevent the onset of cardio vascular disease.
“We are proud of the work that Prudential is doing looking and the strides that they have made over the last couple of years in fighting a condition that continues to affect many people, expensive to treat and in many cases is not easily detectable without appropriate equipment,” said Dr.Jackon Amonye, the Commissioner in charge of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health.
“There is great need for more partners and individuals to come on board and support a noble cause of this nature, magnitude and importance,” he added.
According to officials, for fear of the spread of Covid, the heart camp will not be held this year but rather the International Medical Centre will provide free heart health assessments and check- ups including Body Mass Index (BMI), Electrocardiography (ECG) and Echocardiography (ECO) for free to the public. These will be provided at the IMC clinics IDC, Kololo, Wandegeya, Namirembe Rd, Entebbe Rd, Mukono, Gulu and Mbale on appointment.
As part of the campaign, partner media houses will run a public health campaign to create awareness on heart.
This will include the running of heart health tips and a couple of media interviews with renowned medical experts who will speak into heart health with focus on prevention, detection, treatment, and reversal of heart related diseases
Uganda is still endemic for Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), the most common cause of preventable acquired disease in children and young adults.
It is estimated that 300,000 school children in Uganda have Rheumatic Heart Disease.
This data reflects an urgent need for countries to establish cost-effective public health programs aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk through modifiable behaviours.
