Encomium
With their years of academic experience, doctors are well grounded in diseases and preventive measures against them.
From the wealth of that experience, medical professionals have advised on different ailments fast claiming Nigerians and how to prevent them in these interviews with ENCOMIUM Weekly…
‘Death rate in Nigeria is high’ -DR. GBENGA OMOLAYOLE, general practitioner
Would you say the death rate in Nigeria is high?
Of course. According to statistics, we have terribly high maternal mortality, likewise high infant mortality. So, I will say the death rate in Nigeria is high.
What diseases account for the most deaths?
They are non communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, malaria. Then we have the likes of HIV as well. Malaria, especially, used to be a very big killer, but it’s better today. Other than diseases, road traffic accidents also account for quite some deaths.
For women when they are pregnant, excessive bleeding before and during labour, pregnancy-induced hypertension and ecclampsia are the big killers.
What are preventive measures one can take against these?
For pregnant women, take your ante-natal serious, take every vaccine prescribed during and after pregnancy. In the case of malaria, keep your environment clean and healthy, sleep under mosquito-treated nets. For the communicable diseases, there are lots of vaccines against those.
How much does stress affect people in terms of them falling ill?
Stress is one of the major causes of illness. When you have been under stress for a long time, it weakens your immunity and as such you are vulnerable to infections and diseases. There is hardly any communicable diseases that stress does not contribute to. Stress also causes glaucoma.
And the economic situation in the country is enough stress to break people down.
‘People should stop patronizing quacks when they fall sick’
– DR. STEPHEN IME, medical officer
Would you say the death rate in the country is high?
Yes, it is. Especially with the killing in the north in the last few years. In terms of health and ailments, a lot of people are dying.
What diseases are the biggest killers?
Malaria kills a lot of people. As simple as it may seem to treat and even prevent, people underestimate malaria. There are different kinds. It causes swelling of the liver if not treated well.
What are the available preventive measures to be taken?
First, people should stop patronizing quacks when they fall sick. Visit the hospital when you are ill and don’t because someone took a certain medication when he or she had a similar case, you should take it, too, without considering your liver function level. There are drugs certain persons should not take due to their livers. Also, we need to create a lot of awareness on various diseases. For instance, hypertension which is a fast killer, and hepatitis which is another fast killer.
How much does stress affect people in terms of them falling ill?
I don’t think stress has much role to play in people falling sick.
