The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that of all the major health threats that have emerged over the years, “none has challenged the very foundations of public health so profoundly as the rise of chronic Non-Communicable Diseases”. Caused by poor lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, NCDs have resulted in large numbers of young people dying. A significant number have also fallen ill and therefore cannot contribute to their families or the development of their communities in any way.
Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, once linked only to affluent societies, have affected, and continue to affect, every country in the world – with the poor suffering the most owing to the lack of proper medical care and access to drugs, etc.
At the turn of the century, chronic NCDs were not widely recognised as a barrier to development, and were not included in the Millennium Development Goals. In terms of gaining attention and financial support, these diseases were overshadowed by the devastating epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, and the large number of maternal and childhood deaths.
As stated by the WHO, much of its work in the earliest years of the decade involved collecting the data and making the arguments that would elevate NCDs on the global health and development agendas. On their part, countries – especially those with emerging economies – used the WHO STEPwise approach to gather standardised data on the true burden of these diseases.
Those efforts culminated in 2011, when the United Nations General Assembly held a high-level meeting on NCDs and adopted a far-reaching Political Declaration. The Political Declaration acknowledged that the threat of NCDs constitutes one of the major challenges for development in the 21st Century, undermining social and economic progress throughout the world.
In 2013, the World Health Assembly adopted a comprehensive global monitoring framework for NCDs, with nine voluntary targets and 25 indicators. The Health Assembly also approved the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2013–2020, which provided a roadmap and menu of options for taking coordinated and coherent action to attain the targets.
In Guyana, NCDs are taking a huge chunk of the budgetary allocation to the Public Health Ministry. In 2023, a mobile app was launched to effectively manage the growing number of chronic non-communicable diseases locally.
The app aimed to assist healthcare providers with monitoring and caring for diabetic patients, potentially influencing positive changes in patient outcomes. It was believed that the data garnered from the app would assist in decreasing the number of cases relating to non-communicable diseases in Guyana.
Topped with the app, citizens were urged to adopt healthy, life-changing behaviours, and make regular check-ups a practice, rather than seeking medical attention only when they are unwell. These include eating healthy, exercising daily, avoiding abuse of alcohol, and staying away from tobacco use.
There is still a great deal of ignorance in the public about NCDs and how persons can avoid being affected; hence, messages should be carefully designed to address same using the relevant channels.
The Government, even though it must take the lead as it relates to policy drafting and implementation etc, cannot do it alone. The entire society must be actively involved. Perhaps the temples, mosques and churches can take up a more active role in educating their congregations about the need to adopt healthier lifestyles in order to live longer, more fulfilling and happier lives.
Consumer bodies, schools and other educational institutions; civil society groups and, more importantly the media, also have a role to play, as, when we lose our citizens due to premature deaths, the entire country is robbed of its most valuable resource.
