Dr Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, Chief Executive Officer of Breast Care International, has underscored the need for health authorities to constantly take screening of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) to communities.
She said that was the way to go to curb the rising morbidities of NCDs which were needlessly killing a lot of people.
Speaking at an end-of-year review meeting on NCDs organised by the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate in Kumasi, Dr Wiafe-Addai said because NCDs did not usually start as acute cases, nothing compelled people to seek medical help until the situation was dire.
That is why it was important for health authorities to take proactive steps to screen people at the community level to ensure early detection and treatment, she pointed out.
“A lot of women are dying from cancers and other NCDs because they report late to health facilities when very little could be done to save them,” she noted.
She said fighting NCDs required Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach to reach many Ghanaians suffering from diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancers, and mental health.
“Fortunately, there was a lot of collaboration between the private sector and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in 2022 and we need to sustain it to be able to tackle NCDs effectively,” Dr Wiafe Addae maintained.
She said there was a lot of collaborative research into NCDs between the private sector and the GHS last year and reiterated the need to take it a step further to improve the health of the people.
She praised the Regional Health Directorate for recognising the efforts of the private sector in the implementation of health programmes and interventions across the region.
Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, said NCDs were lifestyle diseases and urged the public to adopt healthy lifestyles, especially what they consumed.
He said the Directorate would step up public education and screening on NCDs this year as part of strategies to bring down the rising cases of NCDs in the region.
He acknowledged the critical role of the media in propagating the activities of the GHS and called for their continued support in educating the public on NCDs.
Madam Lydia Owusu Ansah, the Regional NCD Coordinator, said the mortality rate of NCDs in the region in the last ten years, was frightening and stressed the need for all stakeholders to join the fight against NCDs.
She reiterated plans to embark on massive public screening this year and urged the public to cooperate with health authorities to collectively reduce the mortality rate of NCDs.
