Ghana NCD Alliance holds 6th National High-Level Meeting

The Ghana Non-communicable Diseases Alliance (GhNCDA) last week held its 6th National High-Level Meeting at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra.

Speaking at the event, President of the African Academy of Neurology, Dr. Augustina Charway-Felli raised critical concerns about the havoc caused by the Non-communicable disease to the society.

According to Dr Charway-Felli, the number of people who died of NCDs is alarming and this pose a deadly threat to the Ghanaian economy.

Expressing her fears on the World Health Organization statistics that about 28 people die of these NCDs every minute, out of which 25 are recorded in developing countries such as Ghana; Dr Charway-Felli stated that mental health disorders are significant contributing factors to the disability adjusted life years.

She also stressed that while we talk about cure and management, we should also have in mind that “Prevention is cheaper than Cure”.

“If we do not address these problems, we are also condemning society to be not as productive as it should be and there are economic repercussions to that,” she stated.

A person living with NCD, Christopher Agbega who is also a champion against NCDs spoke about the frustration NCD patients face in Ghana on daily basis.

From being jobless to being financially dependent on family and friends, there is also a daily struggle with the physical and emotional burden and the NCDs patients trying to fit in and being normal.

A representative of the Minister of Health, Dr Baffour Awuah who is also the Chief programs officer in charge of medical and dentals at the Health Ministry also added words of assurance to NCDs victims.

He encouraged that government is putting in place structures to aid in the best health care possible.

Other national stakeholders also called in the government to put in place realistic measures to give NCD patients a good life to conquer the alarming deaths associated with the diseases.

By Gertrude Edem Amuzu