Boko Haram: Borno Now Experiencing More Cases Of Hypertension — Commissioner

Posted by: daniel 

SUSPECTED BOKO HARAM INSURGENTS

The Borno government on Sunday said the state had witnessed an increase in cases of hypertension and heart-related diseases following the prevailing Boko Haram crisis.Dr. Salma Kolo, the state Commissioner for Health, said this while briefing newsmen on the activities of his ministry in Maiduguri.

Mr. Kolo said that the diseases were caused by the `psychological’ trauma created by the crisis.
“We have witnessed a new trend in diseases outbreak in the state, especially in the last two years, due to the current security challenges.
“We have recorded increase in hypertension cases and other heart-related diseases partly due to the psychological effects of the crisis on the people,” she said.
Mr. Kolo did not give the statistics of the new cases but said that the state had also witnessed rising number of mental disorder among the people.

“Women have been badly affected as the crisis has resulted in high rate of r*pe and s*xual abuse leading to sexually-transmitted diseases.
“Some women were forced into marriages with people they do not know leading to trauma and even mental illness,” she said.
Mr. Kolo said that children were also affected as the routine immunisation against polio and other child-killer diseases could not hold on regular basis as Boko Haram insurgents kept attacking the city.
“We would have been able to wipe out polio from the state early this year as proposed.
“But the crisis led to setbacks as the exercise could not be carried out effectively due to the crisis,” she said.
Mr. Kolo, however, said that the state had recorded remarkable successes in health care delivery in spite of the challenges. (NAN)

Source: informationng