Kraft Heinz Leads Campaign on Cardiovascular Health

Martins Ifijeh

Kraft Heinz Company, manufacturers of Complan ‘’complete meal in a drink’’ has organised a scientific symposium on cardiovascular diseases in Lagos recently to educate healthcare professionals on the impending epidemic of cardiovascular diseases and how Complan can be of benefit as an adjunct in the management of cardiovascular diseases.

The incidence of cardiovascular disease has been on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa with Nigeria being the most populous country in the region, as this implies that a significant number of persons may be at risk of fatal outcomes of cardiovascular diseases if not well managed or prevented altogether.

According to the Country Manager for West Africa and Central Africa, Vincent Egbe, he said, “we talk about the epidemics that are impacting the country. We talk about malarial and HIV and few times we talk about cardiovascular challenges, a silent epidemic that is taking over the developing world, especially Nigeria. and being one of the top five leading food companies globally, we decided to organise this symposium, we wanted to bring this to the fore, ”the importance of cardiovascular conditions in Nigeria and sub-saharan Africa as a whole.”

Egbe said that “every individual that we lose to cardiovascular disease is an individual that could have been very productive. And what makes it so impactful is that the cardiovascular diseases attack people mostly when they are at their productive age.”

Also in his speech, a Consultant Cardiologist, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Casmir Amadi, said that “cardiovascular disease is a serious issue. I work in LUTH, and you would hardly do a call in LUTH without taking in a stroke case or heart failure and the common high risk factor for stroke, heart failure, even kidney disease in our environment is hypertension.

Amadi who was the keynote speaker at the symposium said, “if we are able to manage hypertension control it or prevent it, if it is possible, we would be reducing the risk of people who come down with stroke, heart failure or kidney disease because it is quite common in our environment.”

Current data shows that about 28.9 per cent of Nigerians are hypertensive. Hypertension is the leading risk factor for incidence of stroke in Nigeria which happens to be the principal cardiovascular disease in the country. In this part of the world people generally lead a sedentary lifestyle, coupled with unhealthy eating habits.

Also lending his voice, the Medical Detailing Manager of Kraft Heinz, Victor Rowland, said as a result of the unhealthy eating habits as well as sedentary life style of a large chunk of the populace especially in the urban areas of Nigeria, Kraft Heinz has introduced Complan, a nutritional supplement that is fortified with all nine essential amino acids, thus ensuring optimal protein content.

“It is skimmed milk which is devoid of milk fat. However, it contains healthy vegetable fat with proven benefits to health. It also contains L-arginine as part of its amino acid blend which recent research has shown to improve endothelial function. Complan consumed in not more than two servings per day, in addition to providing micronutrients the body requires, will ensure that the body is not assaulted with excess calories. This nutritional approach as an adjunct to regular medical management might be beneficial towards avoidance of development of risk factors of cardiovascular disease,” he said.