Rebecca Calls For Urgent Action Against NCDs
First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo (middle), interacting with Kweku Agyeman-Manu at the conference. With them is Antoinette Sassou Nguesso (left), First Lady of Congo
First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has called for urgent action to tackle the rising cases of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.
She said, in order for African countries, particularly Ghana, to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) three (3), which is to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,” there is the urgent need to take a critical look at non-communicable diseases.
“Non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes are fast becoming common, even among young people,” said Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, who called on experts to devise new means to help solve the growing effects of NCDs.
She made the call at the plenary session of the International Strategic Dialogue on Non-Communicable Diseases and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Accra.
According to data from the NCDs Programme of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), on the average, one out of every five clients who visited the Out-Patient Department (OPD) was diagnosed with one form of NCDs or the other.
Presidential Adviser on Health, Dr. Nsiah Asare, said, “Each year, more than 15 million people between the ages of 30 and 69 die from an NCD; 85% of these ‘premature’ deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.”
The situation in Ghana, according to him, was not too different from that of other Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).
“In fact, 16.7% of OPD attendance in 2017 was diagnosed with an NCD, rising to 19.7% in 2021. Reported counts of selected NCDs at the OPD in the last five (5) years, that is from 2017 to 2021 are as follows; hypertension, diabetes mellitus, road traffic accidents, asthma, stroke, depression, breast cancer, and cervical cancer,” he emphasised.
That, he said, must drive new approaches if the world would make meaningful headway with NCDs’ prevention and control.
“Let us put our shoulders to the wheel and reverse the worrying trend of NCDs in our respective countries. This is achievable with the right political commitments, the right systems and structures, development of partner support and citizens’ involvement,” he said.
Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said “the global explosion of non-communicable diseases in the last few decades had been as a result of lifestyle changes.”
He, therefore, called for a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach to deal decisively with NCDs.
“The links across obesity, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental disorders, and the negative impact of these diseases on the quality of life and productivity of people has affected all facets of life,” the Health Minister said.
The justification for the approach to addressing the NCDs canker, according to him was a major driver for ensuring that this new approach is adopted to add value for long term measures to address the situation, insisting “one country alone cannot do it, and it is important that international actions support local actions to ensure there is value addition to addressing NCDs. In doing this, leadership is key and strategic.”
Source:dailyguide
