By Doris Obinna 

PPC Healthcare, a subsidiary of PPC Limited, a leading engineering and infrastructure development company, is partnering retail stores and pharmacies in the country to encourage regular heart checks for early detection of irregularities that may prove fatal, if undetected at an early stage.

The company, in a statement on Monday, said the partnership would enable Nigerians detect arrhythmias early for quick medical intervention to prevent heart attack, stroke or heart failure.

Studies have estimated that six to 12 million people globally suffer from arrhythmia, a condition in which the heartbeat of affected persons becomes irregular and arrhythmic. This condition could lead to a medical emergency, especially when undetected, resulting in heart failure or stroke.

As part of the collaboration, PPC’s channel partner will deploy a light-weight ambulatory cardiac monitoring device called Bittium Faros, for short-term and long-term cardiac monitoring.

Bittium Faros is a high-end medical technology that provides accurate measurement of the electrical activity of the heart from 12 hours up to 30 days, giving comprehensive data that can easily be interpreted by cardiologists.

On the partnership, the head of sales, medical devices, at PPC Limited, Bamidele Nse-Jacobs, explained that early action is important for the management of heart conditions.

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She said, “We are excited to be partnering retail stores and pharmacies in the country as this will empower Nigerians to take charge of their heart health through regular checks. It has been discovered that many people die from cardiac arrest because they were unable to detect irregular heartbeats, heart-rate variabilities and other related symptoms early enough.

“The major barrier experienced by people with a high risk of cardiac abnormality has always been convenience and access to diagnostic equipment and that is why this partnership will bring the heart-monitoring equipment closer to Nigerians.

“This alliance is part of our commitment to saving lives, encouraging healthy living and shaping the future of healthcare service delivery in Nigeria.”

She added that cardiologists have found the device easy to use, cost-effective and valuable for their practice, complementing in-hospital patient management and medical research.

Nse-Jacobs stated that the partnership is a patient-centred approach to healthcare delivery as it extends access to life-saving diagnosis, reduces duplication of testing, and helps achieve improved cardiac health.

PPC Healthcare has supplied, installed and maintained over 100 ultra-modern medical diagnostic and treatment equipment for private and government hospitals and has deployed medical devices that monitor the health of over four million Nigerians nationwide.