Chronic Disease Brief For Africa (May 2017) By Dara Oloyede
May 2017 Health News
Nigeria’s 80% Cancer Mortality Rate
‘Pima Pressure’: Kenya’s May Blood Pressure Screening Campaign
Eritrea: Progress in Preventing and Treating Non-communicable diseases
15 Million Nigerians Living with Asthma
South Africa: Half of Natural Deaths Caused by Unhealthy Lifestyles
Nigeria’s 80% Cancer Mortality Rate
About 85% of those diagnosed with cancer are in the advanced stages due to lack of awareness (Unah, 2017). For those who are aware and seek health services, often the services and equipment to provide cancer treatment are inadequate or unavailable. Most of the equipment that can diagnose and treat patients are far from rural areas. Currently “Nigeria has less than 40 trained radiation oncologists, and most of the cancer treatment centers are obsolete or non-functional” (Unah, 2017). The WHO estimates than over 100,000 Nigerians are diagnosed and 80,000 die from cancer each year (Unah, 2017). Many are advocating for better cancer care that includes prevention, early detection, and long-term treatment and care (Unah, 2017). Organizations such as Project Pink Blue are raising awareness around cancer and advocating for better preventative care and treatment (Unah, 2017). Muhammadu Usman is a lawmaker who is working with others to sponsor a bill that would establish a national agency on cancer control. He said that Nigeria cannot make progress without an agency driving this work (Unah, 2017).
For more information, check out this article at theguardian.com: 'I thought cancer was a disease for the elderly': tackling Nigeria's 80% mortality rate
For more information on Project Pink Blue, check out their website at projectpinkblue.org
‘Pima Pressure’: Kenya’s May Blood Pressure Screening Campaign
For the Month of May, Kenyan’s will receive free blood pressure screening as a part of the government’s campaign to raise awareness around hypertension (Onyango, 2017). This campaign is called ‘Pima Pressure’ and Kenyans will have the chance to receive screenings at stations located in various places such as hospitals anduniversities. This campaign is led by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Kenyan Cardiac Society and Healthy Heart Africa. The ministry's goal is to get at least 200,000 people screened. Many are not aware of the disease or risk factors of the disease, so education also a very much an important part of their campaign. Results from a 2015 Kenya STEPwise survey for non-communicable diseases showed that 1 in 4 Kenyans had hypertension and more than half had never had their blood pressure taken (Onyango, 2017).
For more information check out this article at nation.co.ke: Kenyans to get free blood pressure screening in awareness drive
Eritrea: Progress in Preventing and Treating Non-communicable diseases
Mr. Fsehaye Ghergish, who is the head of the non-communicable disease prevention and control unit in the Northern Red Sea Region, has reported that significant progress has been made to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCD) (allafrica.com, 2017). He says that this progress is evident in the increased number of healthcare facilities, capacity of health professionals to provide better care, and new medical equipment and medications. Specifically, the hospitals in Ghinda’e, Massawa, Afabet and Nakfa have been more efficient in the prevention of NCD’s such as diabetes, asthma, and cancer (allafrica.com, 2017).
For more information, check out this article at allafrica.com: Eritrea: Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases
15 Million Nigerians Living with Asthma
According to the Nigerian Thoracic Society, 15 million Nigerians are suffering from Asthma (Bassey, 2017). The absence of national direction on how to treat and manage asthma presents a crucial gap in efficient care. The President of this organization, Dr. Etete Peters, said that “prevalence of asthma disease has been on the rise as a result of increasing air pollution and urbanization” (Bassey, 2017). He notes that air pollution commonly caused by car and biomass fumes, as well as cigarettes, can lead to asthma. Dr. Peters says that his organization is dedicated to continually educating its members and other health professionals about asthma management. This organization also mobilizes the community and provides public education on asthma as well. Dr. Peters says that this year they are creating a National Asthma Guideline to make sure that health professionals are able to meet the standard in helping people with Asthma and learn best practices for doing so (Bassey, 2017).
For more information, check out this article at thisdaylive.com: 15m Nigerians Suffer from Asthma, Says NTS
To Learn more about the Nigerian Thoracic Society, check out http://www.nigerianthoracicsociety.org
South Africa: Half of Natural Deaths Caused by Unhealthy Lifestyles
In South Africa more than half of natural deaths is caused by diseases from unhealthy lifestyles (Brandt, 2017). Non-communicable diseases (NCD) is a major problem in South Africa that is a huge burden on their health sector. Statistics from 2015 show that 55% of deaths were due to NCD’s such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension (Brandt, 2017). Incidences of these diseases can be reduced through changes in diet and lifestyle (Brandt, 2017).
For more information, check out this article at ewn.co.za: Natural deaths in SA linked to unhealthy lifestyles
Dara Oloyede is the African News Correspondent for Engage Africa Foundation, and she is pursuing her Masters of Public Health. During her free time she likes to read books, spend time with friends, go to the movies, concerts, as well as events that celebrate different cultures.
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