By Albert Allotey
Accra, May 15, GNA – Ghana has inaugurated a National Multistakeholder Coordinating Committee (NMCC) to help in the fight against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through community sports.
The 34-member NMCC, which will serve for a year on pilot, seeks to oversee the effective implementation of the Community Sports and Health Cooperation Initiative activities and facilitate recommendations into policy.
This follows an earlier agreement during a multistakeholder meeting organised by the International Olympic Committee through its Olympism365 programme together with PATH, an international non-governmental organization to co-create and plan the implementation of the initiative.
The Community Sports and Health Cooperation Initiative aims to improve access, enhance knowledge, and strengthen investment in community sports and physical activity to promote healthy lives and well-being through collective action.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 22 per cent of adults aged 18 years and above and 81 per cent of adolescents in Ghana are not physically active.
It said that physical inactivity was one of the main risk factors for NCDs, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, hence the NMCC.
The meeting saw the committee agree on the terms of reference as well as the governance structure.
Dr Patience Cofie, Country Manager, PATH Ghana, speaking at the meeting, said NMCC among other things would coordinate activities and identify opportunities to leverage and amplify partner activities in sport and health initiatives.
She noted that PATH Ghana would serve as the secretariat of the multistakeholder coordinating meeting as and when necessary.
Dr George Amofah, the Technical Director of Non-Communicable Diseases PATH, urged committee members to be open, and share data, to enable them to know what each institution was doing to shape what was already in existence.
He said physical inactivity was a major factor leading to NCDs in the country, saying “If you are part of a group fighting that then your nomination is critical because you have an important role to play.”
Institutions represented on the committee include, the National Olympics Committee, UNICEF, WHO, University of Ghana- Directorate of Sports, Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Sports Authority, National Youth Authority, JICA, Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and PATH.
The rest are UN-Habitat, Coalition of NGOs in Health, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Local Government, USAID, French Embassy, CIDA, Sports for all-President and the media.
GNA