Health Worker Training Is Improving Hypertension Care and Prevention in Senegal

October 31, 2019During interviews with almost 2,000 health workers and clients in Dakar, Senegal, IntraHealth International found that some 40% of health workers had not been trained to care for clients with hypertension, and 83% of clients who did not have hypertension knew no more than a single warning sign. But a 2019 evaluation reveals significant progress in under two years.The results from our 2017-2018 situational analysis uncovered gaps in hypertension care and prevention in Dakar, including insufficiencies in equipment, hypertension management skills, and patient education.Those results helped guide theBetter Hearts Better Cities initiative in Senegal—implemented in partnership by IntraHealth, PATH, and the local health authorities—which is part of a global urban health initiative in run by the Novartis Foundation. Its goal is to improve the quality of hypertension management and reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in Dakar.Hypertension is a dangerous precursor to and prime risk factor for heart disease and stroke, which is now thefifth-leading cause of death in Senegal. The World Health Organization estimates that42% of all deaths in Senegal are caused by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the incidence of stroke hasincreased 46% since 1990.In some cities, the prevalence of hypertension is as high as 40%.“When I was starting out as a young doctor here in Senegal, noncommunicable diseases were...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Senegal Neema Noncommunicable Diseases Human Resources Management Primary Health Care Source Type: news