Call to declare non-communicable diseases a national emergency
In Kenya, NCDs account for 50 per cent of hospital admissions and 55 per cent of deaths.
The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has appealed to the government to declare non-communicable diseases (NCDs) a national emergency, citing their high toll (39 per cent of deaths and 50 per cent of hospitalisations).
Addressing journalists in Meru, NCCK Upper Eastern region leaders decried low financing towards combating NCDs despite the National Strategy on Non-Communicable Diseases (2022-2026) requiring Sh377 billion to implement.
The World Health Organization reports that NCDs – including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health conditions – now account for 74 per cent of deaths worldwide. More than a billion people live with obesity, 1.3 billion with hypertension, and half a billion with diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases.
In Kenya, the scale of the NCD burden is staggering, and the figures are only expected to rise. According to WHO, NCDs already account for a significant portion of deaths in the country, with cardiovascular diseases and cancer leading.
In 2021, Kenya had one of the highest rates of diabetes in Africa, with millions of individuals battling the disease amid limited access to affordable healthcare.
Rev James Kimathi, the region’s vice-chairman, said there is a need for interventions similar to those undertaken in combating malaria and HIV/Aids.
“In Kenya today, there is no family that does not have one or more members suffering from either diabetes, hypertension, cancer, heart disease or another non communicable condition.
"These conditions are devastating and impoverishing families as they use their meagre savings to pay for healthcare. The financial burden of these conditions is equally huge. For instance, a patient with just one NCD spends more than Sh150,000 per year on outpatient care alone,” he said.
NCCK also wants the government to introduce warning labels on packaging materials for products made with high sugar, sodium and saturated fats content.
They are also calling for regulation of child-targeted advertisement of foods that are high in sugar, salt and saturated fats.
“Adverts for such foods should not be made during the watershed hours when children are consuming media. They should also not be placed in places frequented by children. Further, the use of children and child-like characters in advertisements of unhealthy foods must be stopped,” he stated.
Other interventions proposed are introduction of nutrition education in the primary school curriculum.
"In the past, the government has spearheaded a massive campaign to address conditions when they reach threatening prevalence rates. Examples include malaria in 2010 as well as HIV/Aids in 1990s," Rev Kimathi said.
In the meantime, the council has praised the Ministry of Health for completing the development and adoption of nutrient profile model. It also urged the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Competition Authority of Kenya to apply the model to protect Kenyans.
To enhance access to universal healthcare, NCCK wants the government to reform the Social Health Insurance Fund.
"It is a very saddening reality that the healthcare of Kenyans was sacrificed on the altar of profit when we transitioned from the National Health Insurance Fund to SHIF, which has now been renamed Taifacare. The benefits under NHIF were much more meaningful than what is being offered under Taifacare, despite the premiums being higher," said the cleric.
