Ghana: IOGT Members Call for Action on NCDs
Mr. Labram Musah, Coordinator for the Ghana Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) Alliance and part of the IOGT International Member Organization, Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), has called on the government to factor NCDs into the health intervention programmes.
He said the inclusion of the NCDs into the health intervention programmes such as the NHIS and LEAP projects would relief people with such disease conditions of some financial burden.
Speaking at a community sensitization forum for market women and other groupings in Sekondi, Mr Musah said that NCDs and their risk factors had become a disease burden which the government must factor into health care intervention programmes to facilitate better care and better health promotion for people.
According to the World Health Organisation NCD country profile for 2018, NCDs in Ghana accounted for 94,400 deaths – representing 43% of all deaths.
NCDs and their risk factors, according to Mr Musah, were not only a health problem but a major obstacle to sustainable development.
The rapid rise in NCDs impedes poverty reduction initiatives by increasing household cost associated with healthcare,” said Mr Labram Musah, Coordinator for the Ghana Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) Alliance, as per Ghana Business News.
Some common NCDs conditions include hypertension, diabetes, asthma, heart attacks, strokes, respiratory diseases, anxiety and depression with risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet.