12 Mar 2018

An official from Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Oratile Selei has informed heads of department that the best way to deal with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) was to tackle them at their preventive stage than at a treatment stage.

Speaking at a Health In All Policies workshop for heads of department on Thursday in Maun, Dr Selei said to control and prevent NCDs people needed to go for regular check ups and screening for early detection of the non-contagious diseases.

Dr Selei said that non communicable diseases were attributed to changing of lifestyles and the modern standard of living, which accounts for 80 per cent of all the deaths in the country.

She said almost two thirds of non-communicable disease deaths were linked to tobacco use, unhealthy diets, excessive alcohol consumption and physical inability as risk factors to NCDs.

She further said that in Botswana the burden of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors were at an alarming rate and that HIV worsens the situation by increasing the risk of NCDs and reducing the impact of some of the treatments provided.

Furthermore, Dr Selei said over 1 400 cancer cases were detected/diagnosed per year with the majority being diagnosed late when there is little chance for cure and when treatment was more expensive and toxic to the patients.

Department of Public Health principal health officer, Ms Sinah Moakofhi said that the objective of the workshop was to sensitise stakeholders about the Health in All Policies and create awareness on non-communicable diseases and prevention.

Ministry of Health and Wellness principal health officer, Mr Meshack Metswi informed participants that Health in All Approach (HiAP) was an approach to public policies that took into account the health implications of decisions, avoids harmful health impacts in order to improve population health and health equity.

Mr Metswi said the approach aimed to improve the health outcomes associated with policies and attempts to address health inequalities and provide optimal environments for healthier living.

“Let’s have a look into our policies and see if they really address the issues of health and wellness in our workplaces, if not, we should amend them,” he said.

He said the approach addresses issues of NCDs by engaging multiple sectors when devising population wide preventive measures that contribute to healthy lifestyles.

In addition he said though the health sector bears the outcomes of these diseases, the most preventive policies fall within the field of non-health sectors such as trade, agriculture, urban design and education.

For her part, Maun Administrative Authority District AIDS coordinator, Ms Thutego Knudson thanked the Ministry of Health and Wellness for finding it fit to sensitise heads of departments on such issues.

Ms Knudson said that most of the times people turn a blind eye on non-communicable diseases and encouraged them to continue educating and empowering the community about the importance of regular check-ups and screening. Ends