CS Duale calls for multisectoral action on NCDs, injuries and mental health
Nairobi, Kenya - - Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has called for stronger multisectoral action to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs), injuries, and mental health across Africa.
The Cabinet Secretary made the remarks while opening a ministerial session at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, convened under the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention through the MECA and SPARK-NCDs initiatives. He emphasised that these conditions are driven by factors beyond the health sector and require coordinated, whole-of-government responses.
CS Duale highlighted Kenya’s approach through the National NCD Intersectoral Coordination Committee and related policy frameworks, aimed at strengthening governance, prevention, and accountability within Universal Health Coverage.
He underscored the importance of prevention at community level, including reducing risk factors and expanding screening through Community Health Promoters, alongside reforms under Taifa Care and the Social Health Authority, which now covers chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and mental health for over 30.6 million Kenyans.
He reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to MECA and SPARK-NCDs as platforms for translating continental commitments into action, strengthening surveillance, workforce capacity, and data systems, and called for a shift from policy commitments to concrete implementation.