The Ministry of Health yesterday launched the National Commission for the prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in order to document, through a multisectoral approach, chronic diseases’ strains and trends in Guyana.
The commission was established to monitor the implementation of the National NCD Prevention and Control Strategy 2013-2020 and evaluate the impact of the diseases with aims to collaborate with other ministries, the private sector and communities to address the major risk factors of NCDs. The top risk factors are tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, unhealthy eating and lack of physical exercise.
The commission was launched by President Donald Ramotar at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, with several leading health and government officials from the region, including Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, and further afield in attendance.
The commission has 25 members, selected from significant ministries, private sector bodies and NGOs and is chaired by President Ramotar. As a spin-off, a National NCDs Steering Committee was formed to support the work of the commission.
The commission is expected to serve as an advocacy body for important procedures, such the tabling and passage of the national tobacco legislation. It will function to raise awareness in the public about the risks of chronic diseases and to advise the government on policies and legislation that will see the implementation of national strategies and programmes for the prevention and control of NCDs, and also to boost the efforts of organisations that are promoting prevention and control of heart disease, stroke, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
It will also focus on the health and awareness campaign, general health literacy, screening, healthy eating schools, physical inactivity, the availability and affordability of healthy foods and the importation of unhealthy foods.
Guyana became the 10th Caricom member state to establish such a commission. PAHO Director Dr Carissa Etienne, who is on a visit to Guyana, congratulated President Ramotar on the establishment of the commission and urged the public and the private sector to work together to create a healthy society. “I’m happy that Guyana recognised the need for NCDs to be regarded as a development priority rather only as a concern,” she said, adding that she hoped for the successful implementation of the commission.
She stated that second half of the 20th century has seen major globalisation and modernisation but they brought with them major health challenges. “We continue to see the progressive rise of NCDs causing health threats… These NCDS kill 35 million people every year and you are worrying about Ebola?” she remarked, bemoaning that these deaths accounted for a sizable proportion of the work force.
‘Leadership response’
NCDs account for more than 60% of deaths worldwide and in Guyana are the main cause of morbidity and mortality. NCDs have accounted for over 60% of deaths amongst males and over 70% of deaths amongst females.
The four major chronic NCDs are: cardiovascular disease, which accounts for 17.3 million deaths yearly; cancers, which are responsible for 7.6 million deaths; respiratory disease, which causes 4.2 million deaths and diabetes, which accounts for 1.3 million deaths. In total, these four diseases account for approximately 80% of all NCD deaths.
“Stroke, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and violence and injuries all constitute major public health threats in this region. We have a problem and we believe a challenge of this magnitude requires a leadership response, one that we are seeing today,” Dr Etienne said, while adding that the presence of the President was testimony to government’s interest in reversing the rise of NCDs in Guyana.
She said the Port of Spain Declaration 2007 and the recommendations from the United Nations High Level Meeting in 2011 committed governments to “multisectoral actions and to explore the provisions of adequate and sustained resources through domestic, regional, bilateral and multisectoral mechanisms.”
She indicated that PAHO has collaborated with Guyana and other Caribbean countries to develop and launch the new national strategic plan and to implement and manage NCDs.
If the present generation fails to the address the issues of NCDs, she said, then the future one will suffer the consequences. “We cannot afford to lose 60 or 70% of our population at any age when they are most productive… and therefore today I want to reiterate and call each of you to do something. The Caribbean has a good track history of being the first to stop the transmission of measles so we can do it. Let us make the Caribbean a healthy place not just for the people coming to visit us but for ourselves,” she charged, noting that people need to drop their physical inactivity and be more conscious of their diets.
“We must make physical activities part of our daily routine. The Americas is the most obese region in all of the world…,” she noted, while stating that it is important for other ministries and the private sector to join the fight against NCDs.
Dr Etienne also addressed the issue of the tobacco legislation. She stated that while PAHO’s focus was on the four chronic diseases, it was also concerned with tobacco use. “WHO and us don’t want their products… We don’t want their money,” she said. “Mr President, I wait for the day when I will hear you do something about the tobacco legislation.”
‘Heavy blows’
President Ramotar signalled his intention to change the tobacco legislation, while noting that he was well aware of the impact it has on people. He stated that NCDs were “heavy blows” on the economy and society, therefore people need to start watching their daily intake of food and to exercise.
He said the impact of NCDs are more strongly felt than communicable diseases because many people were either living with a chronic illness or had died from one.
Assistant Secretary General of Caricom, Dr Douglas Slater added that the region needs to take on multisectoral approach because of the tremendous socio-economic consequences of the diseases. “We welcome this and we hope that it is replicated throughout the Caribbean,” he said.
A World Economic Forum study revealed that the global economic impact of cancer, diabetes, mental illness, heart disease, and respiratory disease could reach $47 trillion over the next 20 years.
The study said the estimated increasing output loss caused by the illnesses, which kill 35 million people a year and are predicted to kill tens of millions more in future, represents around 4 per cent of annual global GDP over the coming two decades.
The WHO said the worldwide NCDs epidemic is expected to accelerate so that by 2030 the number of deaths from NCDs could reach 52 million a year.