A Mother’s Daily Battle
In Ghana, millions live with high blood pressure. For most, the struggle isn’t just medical — it’s financial, social, and deeply personal.
Akua*, 46, a trader and mother of three, knows this weight all too well. Each day, she juggles small trading jobs, preparing meals, and making sure her children are cared for. Diagnosed years ago, she struggles to keep herself alive while holding her family together.
Her elder daughter completed senior high school but could not continue her studies due to lack of funds. Her younger daughter is in junior high. Her only son, a boy with special needs, cannot attend school because of his learning difficulties. With her husband absent, Akua bears the full financial and emotional burden alone.
“I cannot do any other job because of my blood pressure,” she says. “Even my trade does not sell every day, but it’s all I can manage.”
Her trade isn’t easy either. She sells household items like blenders and rice cookers. Customers often delay or refuse to pay, leaving her to chase money while her blood pressure climbs.
When Illness Breaks Families Apart
The weight of her condition has reshaped her household. Her younger children now live with their grandmother, a woman in her seventies surviving on a modest SSNIT pension. She struggles to stretch it to cover food, school needs, and medical bills.
Akua herself avoids frequent hospital visits. Not out of fear of doctors, but fear of costs. She recalls her last appointment: the doctor prescribed medicine and directed her to the hospital pharmacy — but when she saw the price, she left empty-handed. Later, she walked into a private pharmacy, described her condition, and was given cheaper substitutes to keep her going, at least for a while.
The Hidden Numbers
Hypertension is a silent killer. According to the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, 13 percent of adults aged 15–49 live with it. Less than half know it, only 40 percent seek treatment, and fewer than one in four have it under control.
Untreated, it damages the heart, brain, and kidneys — often surfacing only when stroke, heart failure, or kidney disease strike.
Treatment Out of Reach
The difficulty isn’t just the disease but the system meant to treat it. Studies show that high costs, inconsistent drug supply, and a shortage of doctors make sustained care nearly impossible.
At Ho Teaching Hospital, patients spend an average of $20 a month on hypertension care — consultations, medications, labs, transport, and lost income. For poor families, the bills are catastrophic. Many skip medicine, delay checkups, or give up food to cope. Families managing both hypertension and diabetes face the hardest trade-offs.
Insurance That Excludes
Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was created to protect patients from such hardship. Yet access remains uneven. Some of the country’s most advanced publicly funded hospitals — including the University of Ghana Medical Centre, the Bank Hospital, University Hospital – Legon and the Trust Hospital — do not accept NHIS cards.
Taxpayers, in effect, are locked out of facilities they helped finance. “When Ghanaians present their NHIS card and are still asked to pay out-of-pocket, they are paying twice,” says Harriet Nuamah Agyemang, Country Director of SEND Ghana.
Prevention and Awareness
Health experts say hypertension is largely preventable. Regular blood pressure checks, reducing salt intake, eating more fruits and vegetables, exercising, and limiting alcohol can all reduce risk. Early detection and lifestyle changes make a huge difference. But without access to affordable care, prevention messages often fail to reach the people who need them most.
Global Context, Local Pain
The World Health Organization reports that in 2024, 1.4 billion people worldwide had high blood pressure, but only one in five had it under control. Between 2011 and 2025, the global economic cost of hypertension to low- and middle-income countries is estimated at US$3.7 trillion.
In Ghana, over 3.2 million adults live with the condition — many without diagnosis or treatment. Behind each statistic is a family like Akua’s, stretched to breaking point.
The Silent, Crushing Weight
For Akua, every missed dose or delayed check-up adds pressure not just on her health but on her children and her ageing mother. The ripple effects are emotional, financial, and generational.
Her struggle reflects a broader reality: hypertension is not only a medical issue. It is social, economic, and systemic. Unless Ghana — and countries like it — close the gaps in prevention, access, and treatment, families like Akua’s will keep breaking under the silent strain of a disease that is both treatable and preventable.
Name changed to protect identity. Other details are real.
Source: VoicesofConcern.com
