NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – The Ministry of Health has embarked on a plan to build an investment case for Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The tool will define the country’s NCD disease burden in economic terms and inform appropriate mechanisms for financing priority interventions in the fight against NCDs.
The investment case, which is being developed with support from the World Bank, will outline the country’s NCDs financial burden and provide a platform to guide cost-effective interventions aimed at preventing and controlling NCDs.
It will also identify a set of priorities for accelerating NCD prevention and control in Kenya in line with the findings of the 2016 STEPwise Survey on NCDs. According to the survey, NCDs currently account for 27 percent of deaths between 30 and 70 years old, translating to about 370,000 deaths every year.
According to the Health Principal Secretary, Dr. Nicholas Muraguri the government is seeking technical assistance from the World Bank Group to advance the profile of the NCD burden to state and non-state actors and to complement the robust policy framework which the Ministry of Health has established for the nationwide interventions, to curb the rise of NCDs.
“We anticipate your participation in this meeting will furnish us with a consensus on a set of key priorities, including best buys for accelerating NCD prevention and control in Kenya. We also look forward to an agreement on the next steps and roadmap for developing options for sustainable financing for NCD prevention and control,” he said.
The PS noted that the Ministry shall continue to work closely with County governments and all other stakeholders to ensure that the right structures are put in place to prevent and control NCDs. He added that NCD control requires concerted multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary efforts for the policies, legislations and interventions to be successful.
In 2015, the STEPwise Survey for NCD risk factors was conducted in partnership with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the World Health Organization and the World Bank. This was the first nationally representative survey to collect comprehensive information on risk factors for NCDs, injuries and oral health in adults between 18 and 69 years.
The survey revealed high prevalence of some risk factors among Kenyans, with 27 percent being overweight and obese while only 3.4 percent living with hypertension having the disease under control.
“We have data guiding us that careful and well-targeted interventions will help us to control the risk factors associated with the priority NCDs. I believe we all recognize the need to accelerate implementation of the National NCD Strategy as well as have the economic impact of NCDs and the cost of inaction be better understood at all levels of government,” stated the PS.