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Christabel Addo, RNG
Accra, July 17, GNA – West Africa
World Health Organization (WAHO) has estimated that the ECOWAS region could save
250,000 lives by 2025, by implementing a set of organizations from the World Health Organization (WHO)
"Best Buy" to cope with the growing burden of the disease.
He stated that many of these "best buys" were
related to the regulation of food, alcohol and alcoholic beverages, as well as
sugary drinks.
The projections were made in an address read
by Dr Willam Bonsu, Head of the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Program,
on behalf of WAHO at an ECOWAS regional workshop in Accra on Tuesday.
Dr. Bonsu said that unhealthy diets, alcohol,
smoking and physical inactivity, have been identified as major risk factors
for NCDs such as hypertension, diabetes and cancers, which were currently
reached an epidemic stage affecting most ECOWAS Member States
subregion.
He said that the workshop would allow countries
share best practices in the control of NCDs in general, and
the regulation of unhealthy products in particular, apply existing laws on
safety, labeling, standards, marketing of bad-milk substitutes,
tobacco, alcohol and advertising, including those relating to practitioners of herbal medicine.
He said in connection with the theme: "Towards
Strengthening regional regulatory capacity to improve nutrition and health
in West Africa ", it was hoped that the workshop would identify strategies that would
contribute to strengthening the capacity of national agencies to regulate
food and alcoholic beverages.
Dr. Bonsu stressed the need for
leadership, increased political will on NCDs, increased national funding,
innovative financing mechanisms, integration of health programs,
multisectoral collaboration, increased public-private partnership, task
sharing, social protection and civil society commitments.
Dr. Owen Laws Kaluwa, the country of the WHO
Representative, said that the workshop was important because it focused on the important
contribution of regulatory bodies to the fight against NCDs
health burden in the world.
He noted that noncommunicable diseases including heart disease
cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases, were collectively
responsible for nearly 70% of all deaths worldwide.
Nearly three-quarters of all deaths from NCD, and
82% of the 16 million people who died prematurely or before reaching
Age 90, occur in low- and middle-income countries, he said.
He stated that the NCD epidemic actually posed
devastating consequences for the health of individuals, families and communities, and
threaten to overwhelm health systems, arguing that the badociated socio-economic costs
with these diseases makes prevention and control a major development
imperative for the next century, and it was currently one of the key priorities
from WHO.
Dr. Kaluwa spoke to NCDs
globally that countries develop multisectoral national strategies
strategic plans and policies to guide the work and response of all stakeholders
involved.
They also mean that "as we pursue Universal
Health coverage (CSU), we must ensure that the package of essential services
we propose to include interventions to combat NCDs across the continuum of
Promotional, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services based on primary care
health care, "he said.
He explained that the WHO in 2017 had produced
document entitled "S & T NCD", which provided decision-makers with a list of
"Best Buy" and other recommended interventions for NCDs.
He said build on the global plan of action
For the prevention and control of NCDs that lasted from 2013 to 2020, a list of
options were presented for each of the four key risk factors for NCDs, and
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic diseases.
respiratory diseases respectively.
He said that there was still a lot to do to reach
the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) NCD, which aimed to achieve a
reducing by one third of premature mortality due to NCDs by 2030, through prevention, treatment and
promotion of mental health and well-being.
He stated that achieving this goal would be
requiring urgent and collaborative action by stakeholders, stating that
the epidemic would be fought and won only through the concerted efforts of all
sectors and actors working together ".
Dr. Kaluwa congratulated WAHO for the initiative
which brought together all regulators in West Africa
Region to discuss how to strengthen the role of key stakeholders in the
NCDs.
Mr. Kwaku Agyeman Manu, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Health, in a speech read on its behalf, expressed concern about the type of
processed foods that Africans were now seeking, claiming that this has been demonstrated by the
growing trend of fast food chains, including global brands, which was an excellent
source of concern.
He said that these processed foods were rich in
sugar, salt and fat, posing a greater risk to the health of consumers than
nutritional values acquired by consuming such foods.
He also expressed his concern about the great
consumption of foods prepared with high sodium broth cubes,
saying much of the Ghanaian population, especially in urban areas
consumed foods they did not prepare themselves, so they were unable to
regulate the amount of salt or sugar that they contain.
Consumers, he said, were therefore left to
the clemency of the caterers in the determination of the salt and also
indicated that high consumption of sugary drinks in Ghana
especially in children should be addressed urgently.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu said that the effect of alcohol
consumption on road safety, general health of individuals and risky behavior
were well known.
He said that Ghana, kind countries of the
subregion experienced growing economic growth with rising incomes
among the population, however, "the increase in the income of the population has generally been
badociated with increasing alcohol consumption, which is negative
spillovers from our economic progress that required collective efforts to address them.
GNA
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