Rwandans have been urged to go for regular checkups and change their lifestyle to prevent Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The call was made at the opening of an international scientific conference, yesterday in Kigali on the role of multi-disciplinary approach in the management of NCDs.

It was organised by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Speaking at the meeting, the Minister for Health, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, said since 2014, the Ministry has been encouraging Rwandans to go for early checkups at health facilities. The checkups cost as low as Rwf200 for men above 40 and women above 35 years of age using Mutuelle de Sante but very few Rwandans have utilised the opportunity, she said.

"Early diagnosis and treatment are the only solutions to NCDs. Since Rwandans are not going for checkups, the Ministry of Health will include it in the Imihigo (performance contracts) whereby we’ll require every woman above 35 years of age and every man above 40 years of age to go for an annual checkup,” Binagwaho said.

Ahmed Ouma, the African regional coordinator for primary prevention of NCDS at WHO, noted that the trend of risk factors like tobacco consumption is increasing throughout sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among the youth, which will increase the prevalence of NCDs in the next 10 years.

"As a global community over the last fifteen years we have been doing a lot of discussions on NCDs but not acting a lot. Non communicable diseases are not diseases of the rich, like most people think, and in our region, they are growing at a very alarming rate yet they are very expensive to treat.”

Number three of the Sustainable Development Goals is about good health and wellbeing.

During a ministerial meeting in New York in 2014, ministers agreed that each country should set a national target for NCDs, and develop a national multi-sectoral action plan.

‘‘We are seeing signs of optimism in the region through realisation and we are collecting data as evidence to engage with the policy makers,’’ said Ouma.

Jeanine Condo, the Director General of Non Communicable Diseases Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), said that through education, advocacy, behaviour change and provision of health services and a large network of health services, the prevalence of NCDs would slow down.

The conference comes as a response to the threat identified by the WHO in its global action plan in the prevention and control of NCDs – that non-communicable diseases, mainly cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are the biggest cause of death worldwide.

More than 36 million die annually from NCDs (63 per cent of global deaths), with 14 million people dying before the age of 70.

More than 90 per cent of the premature deaths are linked to common risk factors, namely tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol.

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