Government moves towards tackling NCDs

Georgetown : The government of Guyana through the Ministry of Health is moving towards strengthening the fight against Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). This was a commitment made by the administration in the 2015 National Budget and work has already started.
During the 2015 National Budget presentation, Finance Minister Winston Jordan, had stated that “The Presidential Commission on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases will be also be reinvigorated with a revised terms of reference and newly-appointed commissioners, who are expected to advance the national focus on addressing NCDs in a more comprehensive and equitable manner country wide.”
The Ministry in observance of Caribbean Wellness Day 2015 hosted a grand exhibition and health fair at the square of the revolution, Georgetown. The activity sought to create awareness on NCDs, along with the identification of signs and symptoms and prevention method along with treatment options that are available.
Members of the public benefited from a variety of services including blood, hyper tension and glucose testing, eye testing, HIV and TB testing among many others.
In this regard, $81.2 million has been approved in the Ministry of Health’s 2015 budget for the execution of the STEP-wise Approach to Chronic Disease Risk Factor Surveillance (STEPS) survey. This survey will feature the collection, analysis and dissemination of data relating to chronic diseases risk factors, so that more evidence-based approachs can be adopted to fight these diseases.
NCDs are of long duration and generally slow progression. The four main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.