A senior cardiology resident at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Albert Agbi, has cautioned Ghanaians about the alarming prevalence of hypertension, describing it as a “silent killer” that often goes undetected until it causes severe complications.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, September 19, 2025, Dr. Agbi revealed that one in every 10 adult Ghanaians is hypertensive, yet fewer than half of them are aware of their condition.
“About 34% of adult Ghanaians in our latest data are hypertensive. This means three out of every 10 adult Ghanaians you see have hypertension, and less than 50% of this number know that they are hypertensive.
He attributed the problem to poor health-seeking behaviour, noting that many people avoid routine medical check-ups because they believe they are healthy.
“Most people will tell you, ‘I don’t get sick, so I don’t go to the hospital.’ They move about without checking their blood pressure or sugar levels, not knowing that a lot of damage is going on in the background,” he explained.
Dr. Agbi warned that hypertension is particularly dangerous because it shows no early symptoms.
“Hypertension is called a silent killer because when you have it, you don’t experience symptoms. It is not like malaria where you get headaches or other obvious signs. You can go for years without knowing, and when the symptoms finally show up, they are very complicated,” he said.
He urged the public to cultivate the habit of regular hospital visits and routine check-ups to detect hypertension early and reduce the risk of life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.
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