adminCatherine Murombedzi
In Zimbabwe sudden death is still treated with suspicion and fingers are pointed that someone has been bewitched. How can someone who has been fit as a fiddle go to bed and fail to rise up the next morning.
Visits to sangoma’s (witch doctors) and some self-proclaimed prophets bring in more confusion as in most instances no post mortem is done hence the belief that the deceased was bewitched.
A common phenomena in my country is stroke. A visit to any primary health care facility can detect if one has high blood pressure. There are many cases even of learned people who have refused to be placed on hypertension medication since it would have to be taken for life.
“I have been told that I have high blood pressure after visiting the clinic to collect family planning tablets. I am not even ill so the issue of high blood pressure comes as a surprise. I have been told that I must commence those small white tablets but I refused. I will be okay,” say many people who refuse to have hyper tension controlled by medication.
Not to my surprise a few months down the line the person gets a stroke and further witchcraft accusations are raised. Education on what causes stroke is lacking and is not addressed this can be a major killer surpassing AIDS/TB co infection in my country, Right now main admissions in hospitals is due to the later with the majority only getting tested for HIV/TB when very sick.
Glucose test is not widely available in public institutions but from private doctors and private facilities. With the majority using public facilities, it is therefore not unusual that many people have never been tested for diabetes and only get to know that they are diabetic after a stroke or keep getting recurrent dizziness, nausea, failure to comprehend issues and numbness in fingers or leg.
A healthy diet can prevent cardio vascular diseases (CVD) as vegetables, fruit and starch need to be incorporated. Some people have meat as the main dish and is overly salted which is not recommended.
Obesity is to blame for some of the CVDs and a sedentary life lacking activity is the lighter to most of these avoidable events.
In Zimbabwe, where 14 percent live with HIV it is therefore not unusual that one also has CVD and does not know that they do.
With the triple combinations of cocktails medications taken by those living with HIV to surpress the virus, it is wise that one also gets checked for heart diseases.
Dr Iris Shiripinda a lecturer at Africa University in The Health Sciences Faculty said lack of exercise is one of the precipitations to CVDs.
“I am a lecturer, my job entails talking and standing but not using any energy at all. I have therefore seen that I need to cycle every day. I lived in Holland for more than a decade and people cycle to work to shopping and to any event. Here it is the opposite, one even drives to the shopping centre which is a km away.
I therefore cycle as much as I can, I only drive when going to Harare which is 300km from my university and that way I keep healthy. People think that I am mean so I cycle. They identify driving to having made it, but hey my health comes first, I cycle everywhere and will do so for as long as my legs carry me,” said Dr Shiripinda who is in her late forties.
A disturbing factor is that of babies born with congenital heart diseases. These are malformations of the heart that exist at birth. Locally correction of these has been a mammoth task and there have been appeals for funding in local newspapers as parents seek funding to have the deformity corrected in India.
Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism have also been noted in Zimbabwe. A friend from school has had the problem and has been hospitalised three times as doctors intend to remove the clot.
“I have a clot and this is the second time I am in hospital in two years. The first time I stayed for a month as they tracked the clot and was removed. Sadly I collapsed at home last week only to be diagnosed with another clot which doctors say is approaching my organs hence the need to be admitted again in hospital,” said my former college mate from her hospital bed.
For me on a personal level, I lost my dead to heart failure.
My dad had worked for forty years and his work as a messenger at a doctor’s surgery involved cycling as he delivered letters, took samples to laboratories and medical aid societies.
His first stroke was six years after retirement but luckily he was at my home in the city that we rushed him to an emergency centre where his heart beat was kick started.
He lived for six months and having gone to his rural home he took a nap around 6pm only to be found an hour later that he had died.
A post mortem confirmed heart failure and as someone who had had an active life for forty years to suddenly become sedentary, his heart gave in.
Although aged 80 at death, he was energetic for his age and I now know the panacea to living long, correct diet and activity will keep my heart at work looking after me.
Now that world leaders met in New York and gave a promise to respect the Sustainable Development Goals and said non communicable diseases have to be halved before 2030. This has to be acted on as it will go a long way in lowering risks to CVDs. As said, it begins with literacy, awareness and how to handle CVDs as these are still treated with suspicion and caution.
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