VRA educates workers on heart diseases

Sat. November 27, 2010

THE Volta River Authority (VRA )last Thursday embarked on a health and safety awareness campaign to educate its staff on different types of heart diseases.
As part of the event, which was on the theme: Cardiovascular Diseases- Prevention and Control, the staff of the authority underwent fasting blood sugar test, blood pressure test as well as fire drill and sensitisation on fire safety.
Educating the staff on cardiovascular diseases, a medical officer of the VRA, Dr Emmanuel Sowah, said about 80 per cent of all heart diseases were acquired through the behaviour of the affected individuals.
He said some of the things people did when they were young tended to affect their health at a latter period and advocated healthy lifestyle through proper diet, exercise, rest as well as the avoidance of tobacco use.
Dr Sowah said cases of cardiovascular diseases, which were diseases of the heart and the blood vessels, were on the rise in Ghana and pointed out that the high number of VRA staff who were diagnosed with such cases was worrying.
He advised the staff to avoid risky behaviours such as consumption of refined carbohydrate found in white bread, rice, flour and sugar adding that since such food contained no fibre, when they were over-consumed they readily convert to fat leading to weight gain and obesity.
Dr Sowah rather encouraged the consumption of food with high fibre contents which he stressed was good for weight management and mentioned whole grains, roots, tubers, cereals, vegetables and fruits as examples.
He said protein should be acquired through more healthy ways such as the consumption of oily fish like salmon and mackerel and also from peas, beans and legumes.
Addressing the staff, the deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in charge of Finance, Ms Alexandra Totoe, said occupational safety and health moved in tandem.
She pointed out unsafe shortcuts or what she termed “just this once” chances could result in severe injury of even death and advised members of staff to make a personal commitment to work safely, always.
“We must understand that our individual actions at work not only affect the VRA as a corporate body, but they also affect our families and personal lives as well. Everyone of us has some dear ones who is counting on us to get back home from work safely”, she stressed.
Touching on healthy living, Ms Totoe said since hypertension was mostly a life style condition, “this means, we must engage in responsible life style at all times. We must make conscious effort to eat healthy food, rest sufficiently, exercise regularly, and plan our work schedules in such a manner as to manage stress without undue pressure”.
The chairperson for the occasion, Mrs Efua Garbrah Sarfo, who is also the acting Director, Human Resource at the VRA, commended the staff for their interest in the programme and urged them to go by the professional advice.