By Albert Allotey
Accra, Nov. 15, GNA – The Ghana NCD Alliance (GhNCDA) has called on the government to ensure quality and affordable care for people with diabetes by integrating Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) prevention and care into the national Universal Health Coverage benefit packages.
It also urged the government to meaningfully involve people living with diabetes in policy decisions relating to prevention, treatment, care and support.
The call was made in a statement signed by Mr Labram Musah, the Executive Director of Programmes of the GhNCDA and copied to the Ghana News Agency as they joined the globe to mark the World Diabetes Day.
The Day is marked annually on November 14 and this year’s theme is “Access to Diabetes Care.”
It highlights on the vast gap between those who have access to insulin, their medication and support for self-management to control their diabetes as well as essential technologies such as blood glucose meters and test strips and those who do not.
The statement said in Ghana, about 2.4 million people were living with diabetes, and approximately 7.5 per cent of adults have type-2 diabetes, adding that; “despite the alarming prevalence of diabetes in Ghana, many people may have still not been diagnosed, and there are fears that the numbers may be higher.”
It stated, however that it is possible to reduce the impact of the disease by taking preventive measures for type-2 diabetes and providing early diagnosis and proper care for all types of diabetes, saying; “these measures can help people living with the condition avoid or delay complications.”
The statement said the International Diabetes Federation reported that 10.5 per cent of the adult population between 20-79 years has diabetes, with almost half unaware that they were living with the condition.
“Over 90 per cent of people with diabetes have type-2 diabetes, which is driven by socio-economic, demographic, environmental, and genetic factors. The key contributors to the rise in type-2 diabetes include urbanisation, an ageing population, decreasing levels of physical activity, and increasing overweight and obesity prevalence,” it stated.
The statement said government must be responsible for providing essential medications to those who needed them at an affordable price as well as strengthening the workforce and institutional capacity to use and maintain equipment, interpret and apply policy and guidelines.
“There are several strategies which can help achieve this, which include group purchasing, coordinating the input of donors, efficiency measures to prevent loss of medications, efficiency measures to enhance processing/dispensing and reducing handling cost, as well as training and providing incentives for doctors to reduce the prescription of excessive and unnecessary medications,” it stated.
The GhNCDA said it would continue to strengthen its commitment to provide better access to diabetes care, prevention and education through advocacy, capacity building, knowledge exchange and stakeholder collaboration.
It encouraged the citizenry to place premium on adopting healthy lifestyles, which include good diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol consumption.
GNA