Govt. poised to tackle NCDs with Presidential Commission

Dec 11, 2013 News

In recognition of the daunting impact of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Guyana has formulated what has been described as a “bold plan” to combat the escalating health challenge.
The plan is characterised by a Presidential Commission on NCDs, headed by President Donald Ramotar, in an attempt to embrace stakeholders’ support to combat the impact of the disease. The Commission is similar to that of the Presidential Commission on HIV/AIDS, which fundamentally targets lifestyles with a view of realising changes to curtail potentially fatal outcomes.
This disclosure was made by Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, during his most recent post-Cabinet press briefing. According to him, Guyana made the ambitious move in collaboration with international bodies, particularly the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO).
According to WHO, NCDs are known to kill more than 36 million people annually, with nearly 80 per cent of these deaths occurring in low and middle income countries. More than nine million of all deaths attributed to NCDs, are among persons below the age of 60 inflicted with cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, hypertension and even arthritis.
Those at high risk of developing NCDs are persons indulging in the use of tobacco and alcohol, those embracing sedentary lifestyles or those who consume unhealthy diets.
Although NCDs are conditions that are not passed from person to person they could, however, have long durations and generally slow human progression.
According to WHO, they are the leading causes of death in most regions of the world and they have the frightening potential to cause an even dire impact by 2020 if urgent intervening measures are not taken globally.
In light of the incidence and prevalence of NCDs, Dr Luncheon emphasised the need for sensitisation measures to be enabled with a view of reaching younger members of the population in order to help halt a daunting cycle.
“If we do not act today, as the old people say ‘heaven help we tomorrow’.”
Because of the NCDs situation, the Ministry of Health in its 2013/2020 Strategy has deliberately focused on measures which prompt lifestyle interventions aimed at guiding young people along a healthy lifestyle path.
“The bigger picture is bringing together a national array of stakeholders to get on board to deal with similar and such interventions,” Dr Luncheon noted.
“The spectre of the enormous impact of runaway incidents and prevalence of non-communicable diseases worldwide, and particularly in developing countries such as Guyana, has led to a heightened focus by the world, by developing countries and specifically by Guyana, on interventions…what to do about this veritable epidemic proportion of NCDs,” the Cabinet Secretary noted.
According to him, the personas of these NCDs are in fact conditions that, decades ago, were only prevalent in first world countries but “have now made impressive in-roads into the health status of third-world countries and third world nations.”
This development, he said, has in fact been putting a dent in the fixed expenditures of third world countries.
“In third world countries where a budget on health care is limited, the pie has to be shared now by this increasing demand for diagnostics and interventions for these NCDs,” thus amplifying the need for urgent prevention action, according to Dr Luncheon.
In combating NCDs, he observed that Guyana has already introduced cardiac interventions such as bypass, cardiac catheterisation as well as renal biopsies, renal transplants and hemodialysis, even as he gave note to the fact that sensitisation is also paramount to aid prevention.

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Govt. poised to tackle NCDs with Presidential Commission

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