Reviewing the various challenges in the year 2023 in Nigeria, Nigerians have been admonished to cultivate an intentional healthy diet to prevent untimely death.
Health has to do with the complete physical, mental, and social well-being of man.
Medical experts and some Nigerians shared their opinions on ways and best practices to adopt to live a healthy life, staying free of terminal diseases this new year.
Nigerians enter into the new year 2024 with many expectations and hope for improvement in the nation’s economy, security, education, and health, amongst other needs of all sectors.
The Health sector has its fair share of crisis in the nation and it’s growth since it’s returned to democratic rule in May, 1999 to President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration in 2023, which implemented policies such as fuel subsidy removal, economic restructuring and infrastructural growth in Health sector to combat the issue of brain drain, that is Japa Syndrome.
In spite of all the aforementioned factors, various deaths occurred in 2023 as a result of diseases most especially several forms of cancer.
Residents expressed their views of the causes of diseases and their prevention.
“Mrs Odunola Ayo said it’s good that we cover our food all the time, whether there’s rodent or not, you never can tell when it will start entering your house and it’s not as if you’re dirty if you have rodent in your house,
Then Mrs Odubanjo said, we have to eat in moderation.
Ajibola Olusegun believe, we have to follow the normal health guidelines of the health practitioners, watch your diets, everybody in Nigeria checkmates what they eat in recent time”.
A Matron at a Primary Health Care Centre, Mrs Oke Rachael spoke on the importance of timely medical check-ups, environmental and personal hygiene to a healthy and prolonged life.
“All hygiene must be present in everything we do, make sure that your drainage system is neat, use long lasting mosquito insecticide net distributed by government. To scientists cancer has no cure but can be managed, likely signs and symptoms that one can have that may typified for screening for cancer such as lump in the breast, as we know that cancer of the breast is common amongst women, Cancer of the Cervix, Cancer of the bone. We were told, the more we breastfeed reduce the risk of having Cancer”.
Also, a Chief Dietitian at University College Hospital, Oduneye Motunrayo advised everyone to live a healthy life by knowing what diets and fruits works for them and avoiding foods that trigger all forms of diseases and ailment in their bodies.
“Poor diets, identifying some kind of food has been pinned down to be one of the contributory to some cancers that we have around. Making healthy food choices is important and should be consistent over time and help to reduce the risk of getting cancer.
However, there some other causes of cancer which can also accompany poor dietary lifestyle, like avoiding alcohol intake, smoking , processed food, which make someone prone to having Cancer. Some roasted food has been identified also.
We should feed our bodies with food that contain protein and anti oxidant food”.
It is, therefore, important that we present ourselves early for medical checks and early diagnosis in order to aid prompt management of diseases before it leads to a terminal one.
