Non-communicable diseases are ravaging the younger segment of Nigeria’s population because of risky lifestyles, a medical practitioner, Dr Austin Nweke, annouced on Saturday.
Nweke was speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the ongoing free medical outreach at Azumini-Ndoki in the Ukwa East Local Government Area of Abia.
He lamented that a huge segment of the youthful population was succumbing to hypertension, diabetes and other related sicknesses, due mainly to unrestricted consumption of alcohol and other substances.
Nweke, a former Assistant General Secretary of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, said that his observations on the health conditions of hundreds of young people who benefited from the medical mission was disturbing.
“Many young people are coming down with hypertension and diabetes, apart from malaria and other tropical diseases that have been killing hundreds of our compatriots every year.
“People these days take a lot of alcohol because they are looking for ways to escape their frustrations; this leads to more medical complications.’’
He said the way out was for government to introduce policies that would engender job creation to engage young people and make them to live meaningful lives.
“Our future as a nation is at stake, unless government does something to save our people from the preventable diseases ravaging them,’’ he said.
The medical practitioner said there was also need for government to give priority attention to primary health care to address health challenges early.
“If our primary healthcare system is developed, our health challenges as a nation would have been 90 per cent solved,’’ Nweke said.
The two-day medical mission, which has some 25 medical practitioners offering pro bono (free services) was facilitated by a group, known as “Wecare Support Outreach”, based in Lagos.
No fewer than 700 people from Azumini and its neighbouring communities received medical attention for various illnesses free of charge during the outreach
