Mobilising commitment to tackle NCDs in Sri Lanka

By Shezna Shums

Sri Lanka records one of the biggest burdens of deaths in the South Asian Region in relation to Non Communicable Diseases (NCD).

The Ministry of Health earlier this week organised a presentation on mobilising commitment and action to address NCDs in Sri Lanka.

It was highlighted that NCDs were the leading cause of death in Sri Lanka, resulting in more deaths than all other causes combined.

Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena said that Rs. 900 million would be allocated towards NCD prevention campaigns and programmes.

The Minister noted that this money was allocated for 2011 and was divided into three parts of Rs. 300 million each so that NCD programmes and awareness campaigns could be carried out islandwide throughout the year.

Commonly known as chronic or lifestyle-related diseases, the main NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases.

Such diseases could be significantly reduced and prevented with thousands of lives saved and untold suffering avoided, through proven and affordable measures, many of which are complementary to health efforts already underway.

The knowledge and technology to fight the onset and effects of NCDs already exists. It was highlighted that it is time to act to save future generations from the health and socioeconomic harm of such diseases.

Ministry of Health Additional Secretary Dr. P. Mahinpala said that it was important to screen people at the primary level for such ailments. It is important to join hands to reduce these risk factors to have a healthy nation, he asserted.

World Health Organisation Country Representative Dr. Firdosi Rustom Mehta spoke on harnessing the global momentum for NCD prevention and control for Sri Lanka. He said that globally US$ 22 billion has been collected to treat illnesses such as malaria, TB and AIDS, which cause the death of about 4.7 million people.

However, when it comes to NCDs, the number of deaths stands at 30 million annually and the time has come for the world to work together to look into this problem.

NCDs are not diseases of affluence and if people can access treatment early, then they can live longer, he explained.

Some of the contributing factors to NCDs are tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol.

Dr. Mehta noted that in Sri Lanka, with adequate regional representatives such as grama niladharis and offices within the Divisional Secretariat and District Secretariat, steps can be taken to educate the people and promote better lifestyles in order to reduce the problem of NCDs.

School children are also a captive audience and they in turn will reach out to their parents regarding the lifestyle changes that have to take place for a healthier nation, he explained.

It was also noted that in Colombo City, steps are being taken to promote a better lifestyle among the people by allocating areas designated for walking and exercise as well as restricting smoking in some places.

With regard to the priorities for action, it was noted that risk factors for NCDs begin early in life and continue throughout adulthood.

Evidence indicates that both prevention and treatment interventions are necessary, therefore reversing the NCD epidemic requires a comprehensive approach that targets a population as a whole and includes both prevention and treatment interventions.

Action to prevent and control NCDs requires support and collaboration from the Government, civil society and the private sector. In this respect it was noted that policy makers must follow successful approaches to engage non health sectors.

Measuring key areas of the NCD epidemic is crucial to reversing it. NCD surveillance must be integrated into national health information systems. Strengthening of country health care systems to address NCDs must be undertaken through reorienting existing organisational and financial arrangements and through conventional and innovative means of financing, reforms, based on strengthening the capacity of primary health care, and improvements in health system performance must be implemented to improve NCD control outcomes.

Prevention and control measures with clear evidence of effectiveness and high cost effectiveness should be adopted and implemented, while population wide interventions must be complemented by individual health care interventions.

The NCD epidemic has a substantial negative impact on human and social development. NCD prevention should therefore be included as a priority in national development initiatives, related investment decisions and part of poverty reduction and other development assistance programmes that are uniquely placed to mobilise political and public awareness and support for NCD prevention and control efforts and play a key role in supporting NCD programmes.

Strong united advocacy is still required for NCDs to be fully recognised as a key priority of the development agenda. Businesses can make a decisively important contribution to addressing NCD prevention challenges.

According to the statistics recorded, 63 per cent of the world’s annual deaths are due to NCDs; approximately 25 per cent of which are premature (below 60 years) and could be prevented.

The NCD policy for Sri Lanka is for a country that is not burdened with chronic NCDs.

The overall goal of the National NCD policy of Sri Lanka is to reduce the burden due to chronic NCDs by promoting healthy lifestyles, reducing the prevalence of common risk factors and providing integrated evidence-based treatment options for diagnosed NCD patients, to reduce premature mortality due to chronic NCD by two per cent annually over the next 10 years through expansion of evidence based curative services and individual and community wide health promotion measures for reduction of risk factors.