Government urged to address growing concern over Non-Communicable Diseases
The lack of attention given to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is raising concerns among advocates and experts, who warn that it is a troubling trend.
They urge the government to focus more on addressing the issue to improve the lives of NCD patients.
“We are not doing much to address the issues of Non-Communicable Diseases,” National Coordinator of Ghana NCD Alliance, Labram Musah told the media at a two-day training for People Living with NCDs in Ahafo Region.
While Mr. Musah acknowledged that there have been some interventions, such as free dialysis treatment, he expressed hope that the policy will continue to support those most vulnerable to renal conditions because it costs to treat the condition.
“It costs so much to treat people with Non-Communicable Diseases – same applies to cancers, sickle cells,” he stated.
Mr. Musah stated that the Ghana healthcare system faces significant challenges when it comes to NCDs. He explained that whenever a patient visits the hospital, they rarely receive full assurance of treatment due to the high costs involved.
“People have to dip their hands into their pockets, this is what we call catastrophic out-of-pocket payment and because of that, people do not go to the hospital.”
He mentioned that the situation is pushing some patients to turn to unapproved herbal treatments, which only worsen their conditions.
Our Views, Our Voice Training Workshop was organised by Ghana NCD Alliance in collaboration with ANAQ Foundation for Sickle Cell and Nutrition.
President and Founder of the Anaq Foundation, Ama Nyarko Attafuah Quainoo, emphasised the importance of amplifying the voices and perspectives of people living with NCDs. She explained that the workshop was organised to share their stories and inspire others who may have lost hope.
She also stressed that it is crucial for the country to implement national policies to combat NCDs as they are silently killing people, yet the nation is not giving them the attention they deserve.
“We are organising our views, our voices training workshop to training persons living with non-communicable diseases so that they can go out there into the communities to advocate and share their stories,” she said.