By Alfred Akwe
A medical doctor from the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Keffi, Dr. Ashimom Timothy Msuther, has raised serious concerns over the increasing number of people living with high blood pressure in parts of Nasarawa State, particularly Panda in Karu Local Government Area.
Dr. Ashimom, who is the President of the Association of Resident Doctors at FMC Keffi, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists monitoring an ongoing statewide free medical outreach in Nasarawa, the headquarters of Nasarawa Local Government Area.
According to him, findings from the outreach revealed an unusually high prevalence of hypertension among adults in Panda, describing the situation as alarming and in urgent need of focused medical attention.
“Yesterday in Panda, almost every adult that presented had cases of very high blood pressure, with readings reaching as high as 200 mmHg. This is very disturbing, and we are already considering a medical research to identify the factors responsible for this trend among the adult population,” he said.
Dr. Ashimom also highlighted another major concern discovered during the week-long exercise — the high demand for medicated eyeglasses among adults across the communities visited.
“We had planned to distribute 300 medicated eyeglasses per location, but the number of people needing them far exceeded our expectations. Many adults require eyeglasses to aid their vision and reading,” he added.
The medical expert, who is also the lead consultant for the free medical and surgical outreach sponsored by Honourable Jonathan Gaza Gbewfi, appealed to the Nasarawa State Government to establish optometry services to address growing vision challenges among adults.
Speaking on the overall impact of the outreach, Dr. Ashimom disclosed that the medical team had surpassed its initial target, attending to about 7,000 patients across 14 locations so far.
He commended the sponsoring federal lawmaker for initiating the outreach, describing it as impactful and life-changing for many residents.
An aspirant on the ticket of the Social Democratic Party, Hon Sadiq Yahaya while reacting to the Medical Outreach expressed great delight at the initiative, saying he was proud to belong to ths Social Democratic Party. He furfher said Honourable is demonstrating commitment to the healthcare of the people through practical actions not by promises.
Some beneficiaries, including Luka Uwelo, who received treatment for abdominal pain, and Veronica Fabian, who was provided with medicated eyeglasses to improve her reading ability, expressed gratitude to the lawmaker and prayed for success in his political aspirations. Follow: www.krestnews.com