By Charles Ndushabandi

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 44 per cent of all deaths in Rwanda Dr Tharcisse Mpunga, the Minister of State in Charge of Primary Health Care has said noting that that a big number of them can be prevented.

He made the remarks during the opening session of the regional NCDs Conference at Kigali Marriott Hotel on November 24.

The conference has gathered over 500 participants including policy makers, non-governmental organizations, advocates, academia, among others under the theme “Shaping an East Africa free of NCDs through people-centered interventions and transformative development.”

The minister said that NCDs when combined with injuries and disabilities account for 58 percent of total annual mortality in Rwanda noting that if everyone played their role they could be prevented by both primary healthcare as well as universal approaches.

“The NCDs services are provided at the community level; from Community Health Workers (CHWs), health centres as well as hospitals, adding that the country has built the capacity of the health personnel so that they can offer counseling and screening services and direct people to access advanced health care and support,” Mpuga said.

"In health centres, there are trained nurses who screen for NCDs including diabetes, hypertension and cancers so that diagnosed people can access treatment and care," he added

He said the government was aware that medicines for the NCDs are expensive because they are shipped from abroad, declaring that however, there is a plan to help people access them through mutuelle de sante insurance as the government plans to reinforce its capacity.

Since the NCDs mostly affect older adults and most Rwandans are youth, it is expected that the number of NCDs patients will increase.

Mpunga said the Ministry of Health gears up to prevent Rwandans from being affected at a young age, urging them to avoid consuming toxic products such as tobacco, alcohol and junk food and to exercise regularly as one of the proven ways to strengthen the immunity of a human’s body.

Globally, NCDs kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 74 per cent of all deaths globally. Each year, 17 million people die from a NCD before age 70 and 86 per cent of these premature deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).