According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent 46% of the global burden of disease and cause 63% of all deaths in the world, equal to 36 million people per year. Annually nine million people die prematurely before the age of 60 as a result of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
People from developing countries suffer the most: 90% of people who die before the age of 60 are from middle and low-income countries. The World Health Organization estimates that without prevention, 52 million people will die because of NCDs by 2030. As is the case in all developing countries, Uganda is experiencing important changes in disease patterns. Non-communicable diseases and their risk factors are now an emerging problem in Uganda, although the focus has been directed more towards infectious diseases.
In Uganda, the mandate of non-communicable disease prevention and control programs which was established during the 2006/07 financial year is to reduce the morbidity and mortality attributable to non-communicable diseases through appropriate health interventions targeting the entire population of Uganda. Such diseases include hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, mental illness, diabetes, cancers conditions, injuries, chronic respiratory diseases, as well as oral diseases. These have caused increasing morbidity and mortality in the Ugandan population. According to the Uganda National Household Survey Report from 2009/2010, these diseases affect more females than males and are more frequent in populations above the age of 45.
The prevalence of non-communicable diseases can be attributed to two factors, the aging population and the increase in unhealthy lifestyles. NCDs are predicted to increase over the years if nothing is done to address them. Most of these diseases develop gradually over time without the victim’s knowledge until symptoms begin to manifest.
According to health reports, NCDs have no symptoms, especially in early stages, which hinders early diagnosis and leads to the development of complications in later stages such as blindness, impotence, kidney diseases and amputations. This is due to the fact that diseases of this nature usually develop over relatively long periods. At first there are no symptoms, but after disease manifestations develop, there may be a protracted period of impaired health.
Some of the risk behaviors that increase the risks of suffering from non-communicable diseases, especially among youth, include smoking, unhealthy diet, alcohol, obesity and inactivity. Tobacco remains the most important avoidable risk for NCDs in developing countries, especially in Uganda where an estimated one-third of all cancer deaths were attributable to smoking in 1995.
However, Uganda has reacted with pragmatic measures. Globally, the trend remains passive because developing countries have been, so far, satisfied with adopting national conventions and adhering to international recommendations instead of pragmatic decisions. Some of these measures include prohibiting smoking in public areas, controlling alcohol abusers, encouraging physical activity, promoting healthy diet and improving primary health care for screening and early detection of chronic diseases.
Until recently, it was widely believed that economic development was a necessary prerequisite for improving a population’s health status and health was often classified as a non-productive sector. Now, politicians and health policy makers are timidly recognizing that investing in people’s health is a necessary condition for economic development, but that energetic decisions are needed for the adoption of urgent and consequent strategies. The need for such strategies is enhanced by the fact that risk factors like cholesterol, tobacco, blood pressure, and obesity are no more a specificity of industrialized countries. They are becoming more prevalent in developing countries, where they double the burden of these diseases that have always afflicted poorer countries.
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” Mahatma Gandhi