Ahafo Region: ANAQ Foundation for Sickle Cell and Nutrition organizes two-day workshop for People Living with NCDs

In collaboration with the ANAQ Foundation for Sickle Cell and Nutrition, the Ghana NCD Alliance has held a two-day training workshop for People Living with NCDs in Ahafo Region.

The training, dubbed ‘Our Views, Our Voices’, an initiative of the Global NCD Alliance in the Ahafo region, aimed at building and strengthening the capacities and skills of people living with NCDs to become advocates.

The training, held on Friday, January 24, 2025, and Saturday, January 25, 2025, at Duayaw Nkwanta, also seeks to call for action to address the challenges people living with NCDs are facing in Ghana and beyond.

Ama Nyarko Attefuah Quainoo, president and founder of the ANAQ Foundation, addressed the media and said people living with NCDs want their voices heard so that the government will pay attention to them.

She said non-communicable diseases like cancers, strokes, asthma, diabetes, and many others are killing people silently, and there must be a national policy to address the issue.

Ama Nyarko Attefuah Quainoo, who is also the Board Secretary of the Ghana NCD Alliance, said, “We came here on one common platform to bring the attention of the government and the public to the need to do things well to prevent people from dying needlessly.”

“To make our voices heard, we are training persons living with NCD to train health workers so that they can go out into the communities to advocate, to share their stories for others to hear, and come together to fight the non-communicable diseases,” she added.

Ama Nyarko Attefuah Quainoo posited that Persons with NCDs often face stigma, discrimination, and barriers to accessing healthcare, education, and employment opportunities, violating their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

To effectively address the challenges confronting persons with NCDs, she stated that “the government should develop and implement national NCD policies and plans and strengthen healthcare systems to provide equitable access to quality care.”

Prevention and Accessing Treatment
The National Coordinator of the Ghana NCD Alliance, Labram Musah, said in his open address said NCDs are the leading cause of death in the world today, as they account for over 41 million deaths annually, representing over 70% of all deaths.

He stated that diseases are largely preventable or controlled when measures are taken to regulate the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy foods, and air pollution and encourage physical activity in all its forms.

"There is a huge gap in access to treatment, care, and support for NCDs, ie government attention to NCDs is very inadequate. The cost of treatment care and support of many NCDs are not available,” Labram Musah further said.

To make progress in achieving the global NCD targets, Labram Musah advocated for the need for a whole government and a whole society.

“Government must invest more, especially in preventing NCDs,” he concluded.