Africa declares war on world’s biggest killers
Kigali,
As Kenya grapples with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) which take up over 50 of hospitalisations, the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2023 has seized the moment to battle the world’s biggest killers.
The continental health summit that started in Kigali, Rwanda on Sunday will for the next five days be screening the public for free, courtesy of Amref Health Africa, the Ministry of Health in Rwanda and the Rwandan Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (RNCDA).
“We are offering a number of screening services and they include taking anthropometric measurements and that includes weight, height, waist circumference and Body Mass Index (BMI).
We are also taking blood pressure, blood glucose apart from doing interpretation of results, counselling and health education, linking those who need care and follow up with specialists and giving the public take home educational material,” Amref explained in an official response.
A 2022 peer-reviewed study by the National Library of Medicine investigating household access to NCD medicines during universal health care roll-out in Kenya found that NCDs are responsible for more than 50 percent of in-patient hospital admissions and 39 percent of all deaths annually.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) account for the majority of NCD-related deaths in the country.
Prevalence of NCDs in Kenya varies by region; for instance the prevalence of diabetes is estimated at 10.7 percent in urban areas and 2.7 percent in rural areas and furthermore, one study reported the prevalence of asthma, diabetes and hypertension ranged from 3 percent in Narok County to 30.2 percent in Kwale County,” the authors highlighted.
According to Amref, NCDs are the world’s biggest killers – accounting for seven in 10 deaths, translating to 41 million people annually.
“This includes 15 million people who die prematurely from NCDs in the prime of their lives – aged between 30 and 69 years. The greatest burden of NCDs is from five diseases: cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, cancers, chronic lung illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, and mental health conditions," Amref said.
"These NCDs share four risk factors that can be addressed through behaviour change which are often established during adolescence and carried to adulthood – unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and tobacco use,” Amref explains while further pointing out that lower and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear 85 percent of premature NCDs attributable deaths.
“The diseases have a substantial negative impact on productivity and economies of LMICs – projected to result in losses of US$ 7 trillion over the next 15 years. The rising burden of NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa further weighs down the weak health systems.”
Amref discloses that in Kenya, the health system is struggling with a double burden of disease – the high burden of infectious diseases and the increasing burden of NCDs.
“NCDs are estimated to be responsible for more than half of hospital admissions and deaths. If we do nothing, NCDs deaths will exceed the combined deaths from communicable and nutritional diseases, as well as maternal and perinatal deaths by 2030. The health system will be overwhelmed," Amref stated.
The health development experts predict that the situation will be catastrophic to families and the economy considering the huge per capital expenses needed to treat NCDs, as well as the harmful effects of NCD-related illness and premature deaths to economic productivity at both household and national levels.
“The time to act is now,” Amref highlights.
RNCDA, a civil society organisation that unites 27 organisations which includes networks of people living with NCDs, healthcare professionals, youth-led organisations and private institutions is using the conference to alert and create a powerful voice for NCD awareness while aiming at eradicating suffering ,disability and deaths caused by NCDS.
According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), if current global trends remain unabated , the number of NCD-attributable deaths will increase to 55 million by 2030.
However , implementation of cost-effective preventive and curative interventions can significantly reduce the burden of NCDs as most NCDs are preventable.
“ Up to 80% of heart disease , stroke , and type 2 diabetes and over a third of cancers can be prevented by eliminating shared risk factors-tobacco use , unhealthy diets , physical inactivityand the harmful use of alcohol according to the global health regulator.
This is why in line with the WHO Global NCD Action Plan, Kenya’s health launched the National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2015-2020.
The strategy proposes an integrated approach to combat NCDs and their risk factors including integrating NCD interventions into existing PHC initiatives such as community health services, maternal and child health, school health, disease surveillance, HIV, TB and Malaria.
Moreover , the country has a tobacco control act and action plan, alcoholic drinks control act, and food and nutrition strategy and action plan.
According to Kenya’s health ministry ,the challenges facing Kenya in NCDs include inadequate political support and resources to enforce and implement legislation and action plans on NCD prevention and control, limited capacity at national, county, facility and community levels to implement preventive and curative interventions on NCDs,inadequate local NCD data to inform prioritisation, resource allocation, and track the impact of interventions; and shortage of commodities for management of NCDs at primary healthcare level.
This story was produced as part of AHAIC 2023 media scholarship program, a journalism fellowship organised by Amref Health Africa.
