NCDs on the rise, causing 39 per cent of deaths – report

Kenya is experiencing an exponential curve in deaths and illnesses caused by lifestyle behaviour that experts say has led to what they call “triple burden” of diseases.

The country has been recording a high cases of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which cause about 39 per cent of deaths, with majority of the cases being orchestrated by four major illnesses—cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory conditions.

Data released by the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) yesterday indicates that 57 per cent of the NCDs are caused by the four diseases that are apparently laying a major burden on the country’s health system.

“Kenya is experiencing an epidemiological transition in its disease burden from predominantly communicable diseases to a rapidly rising burden of NCDs and injuries, the report states.

Long considered diseases of the West and often associated with the urban and affluent in society, NCDs have crept silently into many corners in Africa, remaining relatively unnoticed as governments and the international community focus on combating communicable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, polio and HIV/Aids.

Previous statistics have shown that 30 per cent of all people in Africa have high blood pressure (above 140/90 mmHg millimetres of mercury—the unit measurement of blood pressure) and will most likely suffer from coronary heart diseases, stroke, renal or visual impairment or other related conditions.