Alliance berths, moves to cut NCD deaths by 25% in 2025

The Nigerian Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Alliance has vowed to cut deaths associated with diabetes, heart and lung diseases as well as cancer being the four major terminal ailments in this category, by 25 per cent come year 2025. The president of the alliance, Olorogun Sunny Folorunsho Kuku, made the pledge during their inaugural meeting in Lagos.

He noted that the association, which actually first come to being in 2011 as a loose one, is actually being re-inaugurated as a more organised body to tackle the challenge ahead.

His words: “The Nigerian NCD Alliance actually came into being in 2010-2011. And at that time, it was driven by the fact that the United Nations was going to have a high-level meeting on NCDs which was unusual. In fact, there was only one situation in which the UN attracts a high-level meeting on a particular disease.

So, it just showed the importance of that disease and wellness to the world. At that time, NCD alliances around the world had made case for cancer, cardiovascular, chest and diabetes.” While disclosing that the country needs 84 cancer machines to tackle the scourge, he, however, regretted that it was only just a machine that exists in the nation and is domiciled in a private hospital in Lagos. Kuku noted that 80 per cent of the deaths globally were from developing nations, hence the resolve of his association to reduce the fatalities significantly by that timeline.

He added: “The rapid spread of non-communicable diseases in Nigeria represents a major public health crisis affecting all income and age groups. It threatens the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the people while at the same time deepening social and health inequality. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2012 report, the number of deaths worldwide due to NCDs was 38 million, accounting for 68 per cent of total deaths.

“This figure is projected to rise to 52 million by 2030. Eighty per cent of these NCD deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. Four major NCDs namely cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are responsible for 82 per cent of NCD deaths.”