'Awareness Creation On Non-Communicable Diseases Should Be Intensified'

Kumasi, Sept 20, GNA - Ghanaian healthcare providers have been asked to scale up public education on non-communicable diseases, which keep surging and fast becoming a huge challenge to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Ms. Rhonda Boateng, a Health Researcher, working with KASI Insight, said this was important to help the people to avoid risk factors and lead healthy lifestyles.

She was speaking at the launch of a health and wellness index, which has been dubbed 'FiT Score' to provide comprehensive snapshot of perceptions, attitudes and behaviours that urban dwellers in African have about their health and wellbeing.

It comes amid the warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes could kill in excess of 40 million, every year, with a substantial proportion of these deaths occurring in Africa.

This is attributable to a combination of factors - genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.

Ms. Boateng said more needed to done to discourage people from eating junk foods, tobacco use and alcohol abuse.

She said as the middle class population swelled and urbanization increased, it should be expected that there would be new health challenges, which would have to be confronted.

She announced that a survey it conducted between February 17 and 27, this year, showed that 36 per cent of urban dwellers aged 18 - 67 years, in the continent smoke at least a stick cigarette every day.

She added that 51 per cent of the urban population have also been drinking alcohol.