Hypertension can cause damage to the blood vessels, resulting in erectile dysfunction, Dr. Aba Folson, a Cardiologist at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH), Tema has revealed.

She called on people with high blood pressure to seek medical attention.

"For a male to be able to maintain an erection, there must be adequate blood supply into the penile; any disruption could interrupt the ability to erect," Dr. Folson said this at the weekly "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication,

The platform also serves as a means for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy.

The Ghana News Agency's Tema Regional Office developed the public health advocacy platform "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility" to investigate the components of four health communication approaches: informing, instructing, convincing, and promoting.

Dr. Folson, speaking on the topic "Measure blood pressure accurately, control it, and leave longer," noted that the end effect of hypertension was kidney disease, liver damage, and impotence.

She stressed that hypertensive patients had blockages in their blood vessels, which could result in impotence if not treated at an early stage.

She also indicated that the worry of being unable to get an erection could also compound the pressure, leading the individual to develop psychosocial stress.

Dr. Folson, who is also the Treasurer of the Ghana Society of Cardiology, noted that aside from high blood pressure, mental stress could make a man fail to sustain an erection.

She said impotence caused by hypertension can only be cured by tackling all the risk factors, such as cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, overweight, stress, too much salt in the diet, and others.

She cautioned against the use of unapproved drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Dr. Folson reminded the public that uncontrolled hypertension has a higher risk of causing damage to every organ in the body, including the heart, brain, feet, legs, and eyes, among others.

She therefore advised patients to make a conscious effort to control their blood pressure by following the instructions of their doctors and taking their medications, as well as following healthy lifestyles such as exercising, having regular check-ups, eating fruits and vegetables, avoiding excessive consumption of salt and meat, avoiding smoking, and many others.

She encouraged the public to buy their own automated BP machines or regularly check at pharmacies or hospitals to always be within the accepted rate.

She said issues related to hypertension must be of great concern to all as it is the most influential disease all over the world, adding that it also has a lot of long-term effects on the body.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency Tema, explained that existing evidence indicates that mass media efforts to improve public health can help increase awareness of a health problem, raise the level of information about health topics, and make a health topic or problem more salient, thereby sensitizing the public.

Mr. Ameyibor, therefore, called on both traditional and social media managers to devote some time to engaging health professionals to educate the public, saying that "the education we offer today