World Heart Day: Residents, school pupils benefit from cardiovascular, other health screenings

No fewer than 500 residents, including children, young adults and the elderly, on Tuesday benefited from free cardiovascular and other health screenings organised in an Ibadan community to commemorate the 2026 World Heart Day.

The beneficiaries of the programme are Agbo Ile Faola, Yemetu, Ibadan and IMG Primary School, Oje Igosun, Ibadan, which was designed to take cardiovascular care beyond the hospital and into the community.

The exercise, organised by the Stroke Free Society International in collaboration with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and the World Heart Federation, raised concerns over undiagnosed cardiovascular conditions after some residents who appeared healthy were found to have elevated blood pressure.

The development, according to medical experts at the outreach, underscores the need for regular health checks, as cardiovascular diseases could remain undetected until they result in serious complications such as stroke, heart attack or heart failure.

Medical professionals screened participants for hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk factors.

Children were also screened for congenital and rheumatic heart diseases, while vision screening was introduced to identify eye problems that could affect pupils’ learning.

Speaking on the significance of the exercise, a cardiologist and one of the organisers, Professor Moshood Adeoye, said the programme had a personal meaning for him because the community was where he was born more than six decades ago.

Adeoye said returning to the community to provide medical services offered him an opportunity to give back while raising awareness about cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors.

“Cardiovascular diseases are on the increase. We have people developing stroke, having heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.

“Some of the risk factors are more common in the community, but people may not come to the hospital because of financial reasons or ignorance.

“That is why we are here in the community to educate them about the symptoms and risk factors,” he said.

Adeoye expressed concern over the increasing cases of stroke among young people, stressing the importance of early detection and intervention.

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According to him, some children already show signs of conditions that could predispose them to cardiovascular diseases later in life, while others may have hypertension or diabetes without knowing it.

“We have started seeing strokes in young people. So, the earlier we identify these problems, the better,” he said.

He explained that they also included vision screening for pupils because some children who appeared inattentive or struggled academically might not necessarily have learning difficulties but could be experiencing visual impairment.

He said the eye examinations would help identify such problems early and enable affected children to receive appropriate attention.

Also speaking, a consultant cardiologist at UCH and the University of Ibadan College of Medicine, Dr Olanike Orimolade, said the major message of World Heart Day was the need to prevent cardiovascular diseases rather than wait until complications develop.

Orimolade said cardiovascular health was closely linked to conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, noting that many of them could remain silent for years.

“The world is moving towards prevention rather than the cure of cardiovascular disease,” she said.

She explained that hypertension, often described as a silent killer, might not produce obvious symptoms until significant damage had occurred.

The consultant cardiologist therefore urged residents to adopt healthy lifestyles and make regular medical checks part of their routine, particularly for conditions that could develop without noticeable symptoms.

At I.M.G. School 2, the Headmistress, Mrs Adenike Oyedeji, described the outreach as a welcome development, saying it provided an opportunity for pupils and staff to access medical services without having to travel far.

Oyedeji expressed appreciation to the organisers for bringing the programme to the school and community, saying the initiative would help promote the early detection of health conditions among residents and schoolchildren.

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