Patients, others lament poor government funding for hypertension

Patients, healthcare experts and civil society advocates have decried what they described as the Federal Government’s inadequate attention to hypertension and other non-communicable diseases.

They also called for increased funding, stronger public awareness and improved access to screening and treatment.

The call was made on Thursday during the Executive Media, Patient and Civil Society Dialogue on Hypertension Financing, convened under the Advocacy Partnership for Hypertension Financing and Patient Voice Project.

Speaking at the event, Country Lead for Health System Strengthening at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Prof. Emmanuel Alhassan, said hypertension affects millions of Nigerians but remains largely neglected in terms of government funding and public attention.

According to him, many Nigerians are living with hypertension unknowingly because of inadequate awareness and poor access to routine screening.

“Statistics show that millions and millions of Nigerians are hypertensive. The sad part of the story is that not many people know about it. So we want it to be prioritised. We want the government to prioritise funding for non-communicable diseases, particularly hypertension,” Alhassan said.

He lamented that funding for hypertension remains disproportionately low despite the growing burden of the disease.

“You will notice that, for instance, for 2025, not even a single kobo was released. We really want our colleagues in the media and communities themselves to come together and advocate. We are supporting the NCDs Division of the Federal Ministry of Health, but issues around non-communicable diseases, particularly hypertension, should be prioritised and funding made available.”

Alhassan noted that although an estimated 27 million Nigerians are living with hypertension, the disease receives less than four per cent of the attention and funding allocated to other health conditions.

“There is a huge burden of the disease, yet less than three to four per cent in terms of attention and funding is paid compared to other disease areas,” he said.

He stressed that the media has a critical role in educating Nigerians about hypertension and encouraging regular blood pressure checks.

“The media has a role to play in getting Nigerians to know that they might just be walking around with hypertension without knowing it. Nigerians need to go for screening.

“We also need the media to help us advocate to government, the private sector and individuals to invest more in non-communicable diseases, particularly hypertension. The media should also work with civil society organisations to make ongoing interventions more visible and highlight statistics showing that many people are unaware of their condition,” he added.

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Also speaking, Head of Advocacy, Patient-led Advocacy Working Group on Non-Communicable Diseases, Francis Okonkwo, urged Nigerians to make blood pressure checks a routine practice, warning that hypertension often shows no symptoms until life-threatening complications occur.

“I didn’t want to know my blood pressure before because I asked myself, if I know, how will I manage it? That fear is what many Nigerians have,” he said.

Describing hypertension as a “silent killer”, Okonkwo recounted how a friend with dangerously high blood pressure died shortly after being discharged from hospital.

“I had a friend who suddenly started shouting that his eyes wanted to come out. We rushed him to the hospital and the doctor told me he couldn’t explain why my friend was still alive because his blood pressure was above 200.

“They treated him and discharged him after about a week, but within another week he died at home,” he narrated.

Sharing his personal experience, Okonkwo said emotional stress also contributed to his own struggle with hypertension.

“I had emotional problems that deprived me of sleep for months. That was when my blood pressure started rising. Eventually, I learned to manage the stress, and my sleep returned, and my blood pressure started going down,” he said.

He warned that hypertension is increasingly affecting younger Nigerians, contrary to the common belief that it is only a disease of old age.

“It doesn’t need to be somebody who is old. When I had it, I wasn’t old. Today, hypertension is not about old age. If you have not been checking your blood pressure, please check. That is the only way you can save your life and protect your health,” he advised.

Okonkwo also expressed concern over unhealthy lifestyles, including excessive consumption of salt, sugar, alcohol and other harmful substances, warning that they are contributing to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in the country.

He urged journalists to intensify public education on hypertension and other NCDs, saying sustained awareness campaigns would encourage preventive health-seeking behaviour among Nigerians.

The dialogue brought together journalists, patients, healthcare professionals and civil society organisations to discuss sustainable financing for hypertension prevention, diagnosis and treatment, while advocating stronger government commitment to tackling the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in Nigeria.