It is indeed encouraging to note that British Heart Foundation (BHF) is taking the lead to check blood pressure (BP) of some seven million people at popular places like railway station, pubs and hair saloons most people, especially working people visit regularly. This could be a blessing in disguise for those who are living with undiagnosed high BP that may lead to heart attack, stroke and TIA, the scourge of the nation that leads to early deaths.
Our living style, dyed-in-the-wool mentality and that include living a life in “Fast Lane”, pressure at work, lack of exercise, take-away unhealthy diet that include pizza, burgers, chips and sandwiches with glass of wine or pint of lager at lunch-time or after a long and hard working day, is responsible for our poor diet and decline in our longevity for the first time since mid-seventies. We are one of the very few nations where people’s life expectancy is on the decline due to unhealthy life-style.
While such checks that include besides high BP, diabetics and cholesterol level are common in countries like Canada, Australia, Japan and many more, we badly leg behind in such preventative medicine that leads to pressure on over-worked GPs and A & E.
One place we visit regularly is Super Markets (SM). This is particularly of great importance for OAPs, chronically sick and disables elderly people who do not travel much, are teetotallers, will miss out if such popular spots like pharmacy and supermarkets are omitted.
While talking to a pharmacist in our local SM, his reaction was that if such services are available free, there will be a long queue outside pharmacy and they will be obliged to employ an extra person. This is lame excuse, dog in the manger attitude, lack of enlightenment, as some SM already provides such services, including blood tests and flu injections, some services at a price customers are more than willing to pay. If government, the corridor of power, rather than voluntary organizations encourage these outlets to provide such services, be expedient, then it will reduce pressure on NHS, especially overworked GPs and will stop decline in longevity, benefiting everyone, especially younger generation.
Bhupendra M. Gandhi
By email
