Public health experts have urged Rwandans to be regularly screened for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) as the practice could help curb the uprising trend in diseases and deaths in Rwanda.
The chairman in charge of NCDs at the WHO Rwanda, Dr Augustin Gatera said this known during a non-screening campaign in Kigali.
He said; “Regularly screen for NCD, The NCDs are the kind of neglected diseases which don’t have a proper follow-up, and yet they kill a lot of people.
“The number of people having NCDs is rising due to a lack of awareness. But through screening campaigns, we create an environment in which everybody gets to know their health status.
“Through monitoring progress and trends of the diseases, we can reduce their burden and the risk factors.”
Also, the Health Minister, Dr Ndamije Daniel confirmed that the number of patients with heart diseases treated in Rwandan hospitals is more than tripled between 2018 and 2020, from 25,353 to 88,486. Heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases like asthma, and other non-infectious diseases accounted for 44 per cent of all deaths in 2016 in Rwanda.
Further, the HPO’s Executive Director, Benoît Ndagijimana added; “We want people to be aware that these non-communicable diseases are killing more and more people due to the changing lifestyles, unhealthy diets, and fewer physical activities.
“We take anthropometric measurements, and explain the causes and prevention of the diseases and for those who have the diseases, we advise them on best to manage them.
“This is the first screening campaign our organization has done targeting many people, but we are looking forward to making it a regular exercise. That is because more people need to first know about these diseases and then we instil in them the habit of getting screened regularly.”
The probability of premature deaths from one of the four major NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases) in Rwanda is 19 per cent.
Source: New Times
