Innovation can help African governments tackle Non Communicable Diseases

Morris Omukwenyi, a Kenyan farmer turned 49 years old 3 weeks to the end of 2016. He is not formally employed neither is his wife, they earn a living from their three acre farm with most of the proceeds going to their 3 children school fees. 

Their responsibilities also extend to his elderly parents. Mid-last year, he was diagnosed with a hypertension, popularly referred to as high blood pressure. The condition has long stalked his family, his aging father who lives about two Kilometres away has had it since Omukwenyi was a boy.

If not well managed, the condition can cause Coronary artery disease which is a blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle and could eventually cause a heart attack.

Omukwenyi and his aging get treatment from a nearby clinic run by the Catholic Church as the district hospital is distant and overwhelmed by patients. The clinic too however lacks adequate resources to effectively manage the condition.

His case is not unique, various indexes show that only about 10 per cent of Sub-Sahara Africa has access to treatment and medicine for Cardio-Vascular Diseases which are estimated to affect nearly half of adults aged 25 years and older across Sub-Saharan Africa and its prevalence is expected to grow to 150 million adults by 2025 in the region.

Across the continent, multiple small health facilities are not equipped to handle non-communicable diseases in terms of basic equipment as well as medicines and also due to the structure and capacity of many African health systems.

Due to challenges that include status of health facilities, personnel and access to medicine across the continent, most of public health facilities are not designed to offer care for non-communicable diseases.

In recent years, non-communicable diseases have increased across the continent claiming more lives yearly.

The world Health Organization estimates that about 80 per cent of the deaths due to Non-communicable diseases occur in low income countries mostly in Africa.

While most of the conditions which cause these deaths can be treated with essential medicines, access to these chronic disease medicines is generally poor in most African countries.

Patients have been forced to seek alternatives of generic medicines which are often 2-3 times more expensive.

With that in most developing countries across the continent, the highest component of household health related expenditure is on medicines and treatment has continued to put an enormous and continuous financial strain on household budgets.

Some governments across the have put forth a number of strategies to help deal with the crisis through policies and partnerships with the private sector.

Some of these initiatives by governments have seen public servants get medical insurance to help them cope with tough times and private employers urged to consider insuring their employees.

Some governments have also worked to build public private partnerships to attract quality healthcare providers to supplement the public health care providers.

 Non-Governmental organisations, development partners and donors have spotted gaps in healthcare access especially non-communicable diseases.

These development partners have devised and multiple approaches to aid developing countries which include training doctors and physicians as well as availing equipment that would have otherwise been unaffordable with public healthcare budgets.

By working with government some donors have also identified health centers and hospitals that can be upgraded to referral status for treatment further easing the strain on government budgets.

Pharmaceutical companies have not been left behind in trying to manage the non-communicable diseases crisis that continues to trouble the continent.

For instance, global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca  is working with local partners across the continent to tackle cardiovascular diseases which are estimated to affect nearly half of adults aged 25 and above across the continent.

AstraZeneca’s intervention to tackle the ailment is by working with local partners, to provide training and establishing healthcare centres for screening and treating patients. To reach even the remotest part of the continent, the firm has set a goal of reaching and treating 10 million people with hypertension in Africa over the next 10 years.

Mark Mallon, the firm’s international Vice President, says that AstraZeneca aims at making their medicines affordable  to more people on a commercial and socially responsible basis.

“The cost of treating chronic conditions such as respiratory and cardiovascular disease is an increasing burden on emerging markets, where there is significant unmet patient need, while at the same time patients are paying for their medicines out of their own pockets. We believe that our ability to pay approach to pricing is sustainable and fair and should significantly increase access and improve patient outcomes in emerging markets,” Mallon said.