By Deogratias Mmana, New York, USA
The
United Nations is on Monday expected to give Malawi an award for the
outstanding work and contribution the country is making in achieving the Non
Communicable Diseases (NCDs) related Sustainable Development Goals.
The country will receive the United Nations Interagency Task Force for the
Prevention and Control of NonCommunicable Diseases Award through the Ministry
of Health and Population.
“The award will be presented during the UN High Level Meeting at the UN
Interagency Task Force for the Prevention and Control on Non Communicable
Diseases Friends of the Task Force Side Event on Monday, 23rd September 2019 in
the UN Building,” said Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Malawi’s Chief of Health Services
in an interview at the UN in New York.
Mwansambo said Malawi is getting the award because of several strategies the
country put place in the fight against NCDs.
These
include establishment of NCDs unit in 2011 with the aim to coordinate the
national response to NCDs and enhanced community mobilization on NCDs and
educating patients in health facilities and communities and strengthening
capacity of healthcare providers in managing patients with NCDs and monitoring
and evaluation of NCDs in health facilities.
“We also introduced Human Papiloma Virus Vaccine (HPV) targeting nine year old
girls and we also launched the NCDs Lancet Commission two years ago
with the aim to rethink about global policies and mend a great disparity in
health and broaden the current NCD agenda in the interest of equity,” said
Mwansambo.
“Malawi is establishing the Emergency Medical Services dedicated to providing
out of hospital emergency medical care to save lives and prevent disability,”
said Mwansambo.
NCD is a disease that is not transimitted directly from one person to another.
NCDs include most heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic lung diseases,
epilepsy, mental health disorders and injuries including violence accelerated
trauma.
Most NCDs are caused as a direct result of lifestyle and environmental factors.
Mwansambo said in the 1960s and 1970s, NCDs were not an important public health
problem as prevalence was one percent but undernutrition was a major public
health problem with 36 percent of adults being undernourished while overweight
was less than seven percent.
“Now NCDs and their risk factors constitute a public health and these diseases
contribute more than 30 percent of disease burden and are ranked 4th as a cause
of disability adjusted life years,” Mwansambo said.
Minister of Health and Population, Jappie Mhango, who is attending the UNGA,
said Malawi was able to get the award because of President Peter Mutharika’s
administration which he said has provided conducive environment for the factors
to deal with NCDs.
“NCDs are a global problem. As a country, we are happy to receive this award.
This is a motivator to us to do more.
“This is a call for us to redouble our efforts. We thank President
Professor Peter Mutharika for supporting my ministry to achieve this award,”
said Mhango.
Malawi is among the rest of the world attending this year’s UNGA in New York
which is under the theme: “Galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty
eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion.”-MANA