New hope for black hypertensive, arthritis patients

Mr. Temitope Alonge (2nd right), an
orthopaedic surgeon, unveiling Urah Cream
at its launch at the University College Hospital
(UCH) Ibadan recently, while others watch
with interest.Black patients, especially Nigerians, who suffer from hypertension and arthritis need no longer fear as there is light at the end of the tunnel, as Adewale Oshodi reports..

DUE to the economic situation in most African countries, it is not surprising that people of the black race are immuned to developing hypertension when compared to their white counterparts in developed countries of the world.

Blacks in Africa, especially Nigeria, have to deal with a lot of stress due to government’s inability to provide the citizens with the necessary infrastructure that will make life more comfortable for them.

In Nigeria today, basically every infrastructure that could make life comfortable for the people are non-existent and as a result, most people, especially those who are 40 years and above, develop hypertension, in reaction to the level of stress they go through.

However, for black hypertensive patients, there is light at the end of the tunnel, as Neimeth Pharmaceutical, a leading pharmaceutical company in the country, has taken it upon itself to develop an hypertensive drug specially made for the black patient. At the launching of the hypertensive drug, MiniPlus, at the Paul Hendricks Hall, University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan recently, the Associate Director, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical, Mr. O. A. Ojekoya, said the company was aware that the black man was more at risk of developing hypertension than the white man of the same age and that was why it came out with MiniPlus specially produced for black people.

Mr. Ojekoya said the drug had passed through the necessary medical tests with the assistance of top medical experts throughout the country. “After the necessary administration of MiniPlus on selected hypertensive patients, it was discovered that MiniPlus works more effectively and efficiently than most of the other hypertensive drugs around”, he said.

He then charged medical doctors to prescribe MiniPlus to their hypertensive patients. In one of the lectures at the launching, a medical expert and associate professor of Medicine at the University College Hospital (UCH), Dr. Babatunde Salako, while speaking on the Evaluation of MiniPlus in the treatment of mild/moderate hypertension in Nigeria, said aside from the high level of stress that brings about hypertension, those who take too much alcohol and migrants, either from the rural to urban setting, or from under-developed countries to developed countries are another group of people who are at high risk of developing hypertension.

Dr. Salako, who was also part of the medical team who developed the drug, said top medical experts from around the country were assembled by Neimeth Pharmaceutical, and as such, MiniPlus is a drug that is the best among equals in the treatment of mild and moderate hypertension.

The medical expert then commended Neimeth for its decision to go into the production of MiniPlus saying many lives would be saved by the drug. In his lecture on, Urah, the new arthritis cream produced by Neimeth, an orthopaedic surgeon, Mr. Temitope Alonge, said the major risk factor in developing arthritis is as a result of age.

“That is, as people grow older, there is the possibility that one could develop arthritis. It is also believed that women are more prone to developing arthritis than men”, Mr. Alonge said. “So, with Neimeth coming out with Urah cream, they have made it a lot easier for sufferers of arthritis to fight the pain.

Testifying to the effectiveness of Urah cream, a regular user, Mrs. Dunni Owoeye said she now recommends it to other arthritis patients, as Urah had helped her overcome the pain she used to experience in her joints.