Third World under threat of non-communicable diseases

By Anyang’ Nyong’o

Human beings usually take long to learn, and when they do learn, sometimes they take very long to act.

It could as well be that is the way God’s creation was intended to be. Even though we know how to preserve our beings and live longer, like Adam in the Garden of Eden, we are compelled by evil forces to act against our best intentions by doing the opposite, which is ruinous and, retrospectively, stupid.

We know for sure that polluting our air, our rivers and our lakes is dangerous to the well being of nature in general; and we know we are part of this nature. Yet we know that all the vehicles that we drive and that transport goods across our nation pollute the air with a vengeance.

Our factories dispose of dangerous waste in ways that can only be described as lethal, knowing the kind of pathogenic and carcinogenic effects such waste can have when they get into animal and plant foods, including vegetables grown along the river banks in a place like Nairobi.

No wonder Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are on the increase globally, with about 36 million people dying globally as a result of NCDs.

Ninety per cent of these deaths are from developing countries like Kenya where people are least aware of the dangers of NCDs, diagnostic facilities are scarce and hospitals ill-resourced to deal with the problems effectively.

Kenyans need, therefore, to wake up get to know that our lives are under threat, and any one of us can be a victim of NCDs. In saying this, our aim is not to scare but to create awareness with the view of taking positive steps to prevent, diagnose, control, treat and take care of those who are affected.

Some NCDs like stroke, diabetes and cancer are largely preventable through lifestyle changes. There are certain foods, which tend to promote such diseases. There are also lifestyle habits – like smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol – which can predispose one to cancer, diabetes and strokes.

These can be reduced or even abandoned willfully. Hence getting to know how to prevent NCDs ought to be the responsibility of every individual so as to reduce the burden of diseases at the individual and societal levels.

Our health system needs to develop the capacity to diagnose and treat NCDs. At the moment Kenya is in dire need of improving health care delivery systems in general, and this is what the reform process in the ministries of health is all about. But this will not succeed unless there is sufficient and effective investment in the health sector in general.

When the African Heads of State and Government passed the Abuja Declaration several years ago, for every African government to dedicate at least 15 per cent of the national budget to health, they meant what they said, and the figure 15 per cent was arrived at after careful technical studies; hence it was an evidence-based proposal.

It is now more than a decade since that landmark declaration was made, and very few African countries have adhered to it. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa must be commended for their efforts; Kenya should be found in this league having pioneered in putting together a National Hospital Insurance Fund in 1966 before most developing countries took such initiatives seriously.

Like the proverbial human being who knows what is good for him but does the opposite, we have for a long time gone against our noble missions of the early independence years and resorted to consistently performing below our potential. That is why I will continue to decry our nation as a country of great of great potential but a disappointing under-achiever.

We need, however, to appreciate recent achievements in education and infrastructural development currently going on. But the human resource development equation will not be complete without focusing seriously on issues of health, and accelerating improvements in the health sector.

The National Forum on the Diagnosis, Control and Treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases that opens at the Laico Regency Hotel on Tuesday 23rd August this coming week will serve as a wake-up call for all Kenyans to the dangers posed to our lives and society by NCDs.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga will open the session by drawing the attention of world leaders to this global crisis, which is as grave as HIV/Aids was several years ago when the pandemic hit the world.  He will call for a clear Kenya position at the UN High Level Meeting on NCDs in New York to be held on September 19-20.

After the Opening Session, the Forum will continue at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha from August 24-26 with national and international scholars, professors and doctors making presentation on the diagnosis, control and prevention of NCDs.

 Aspects of capacity building will be probed and Kenya’s experience in this area will be discussed in the context of global trends, achievements and challenges.

While the New York High Level Meeting is important in galvanising international awareness and resources to combat NCDs, the National Forum needs to bring Kenyans together on this issue if our achievement at the international level is to be fully leveraged upon.

The writer is Minister for Medical Services