Health Ministry launches physical fitness guidelines

The Ministry of Health(MoH) will soon implement the physical fitness guidelines in all government agencies, Margaret Muhanga, State Minister PHC has said.

Muhanga said the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is on the increase in the country, adding that the reason they have set up guidelines.

She added that results from the NCDs risk factor survey 2023 and other studies indicate that the burden of NCDs and the complication of NCDs towards mobility and mortality is also on the rise.

“NCDs risk factors are also still high, all these leading to mature death mortality and prolonged ill health among the people who otherwise would be economically productive for the country and their families,” she noted.

Intervention

The assistant commissioner in the NCD department Dr. Gerald Mutungi said in the national guidelines, the ministry intends to address issues of physical fitness.

Mutungi said the MoH is going to focus on age groups, pregnant women, PWDS, and children and each group will be guided on the type of exercise they can do.

“The ministry intends to inform the public and population that there is no need to go to the gym to burn fat but they need to carry out exercises,” Mutungi said.

The guidelines will also require able-bodied persons to carry out a 30-minute workout for five days adding that they are at liberty can carry out exercise at home in their compounds.

This year, the National Fitness Day will be celebrated under the theme: Exercise is medicine: Do regulate Physical activity to prevent NCDs

Muhangi was announcing the launch of the National Day of Physical Activity on 16 June at the Makerere University Business School.

The launch is expected to be officiated by President Yoweri Museveni and among the activities of the day include football, netball, and 10 and 5-meter runs among other physical fitness exercises

Common NCDs

The most common NDCs, according to ministry officials are, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, diabetes, asthma, sickle cell disease, and mental illness, among others.

She said that modifiable risk factors such as unhealthy diet harmful use of alcohol-alcoholism, tobacco use smoking, substance abuse, and increased physical activity are common,

Muhanga said that many Ugandans are living with NCDS but they don’t know adding that there is a need to do these regular checkups to know the NCDs one is suffering from.

These are people who are overweight, obese, and those with a high body mass of 25

According to the health ministry, 5 million Ugandans are suffering from depression, while 1.07 million Ugandans suffer from anxiety disorders which are from social and economic pressures which are as a result of drugs, substance, alcohol, and tobacco abuse which is on the increase among young people.

Other interventions

MoH has undertaken several steps in the fight against NCDs which include game weight from guidelines from WHO, there is the National Activity guidelines which will provide overall guidelines to government and private sectors and the entire public.

The ministry also designed and launched the Presidential Guide on a healthy diet based on the available local foods which is affordable to the public.

The head of the public service recently issued directives to all government agencies and ministries to institute physical activity in all workplaces.