Non-communicable diseases: You should act now!

DISEASE

People living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been urged to educate themselves and get information from credible sources so as to manage their conditions and avoid complications.

Wrong information (advice) in addition to fake messages about treatment and healers, some of which are on media platforms, have proven to be a major challenge in the treatment of people with NCDs, says Dr. Roy William Mayega, an epidemiologist and lecturer at Makerere University.

NCDs are also known as lifestyle diseases because their risk factors are linked to how people live.

The risk factors include leading a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diets, overconsumption of alcohol and smoking.

NCDs include diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive lung diseases and cancer. Such diseases that are not transmittable from person to person but instead develop over time. They are also chronic and do not have definite cures although they can be managed.

Mayega decries the fact that many patients believe the allegations of fake cures and they respond by abandoning their treatment, which predisposes them to developing complications.

For example, there are myths that if people with diabetes drink bitter things, such as aloe vera, they will dilute the sugar in their blood and cure them of diabetes.

Mayega urges patients not to be duped, explaining that diabetes is a chronic condition which does not have a complete cure, although it can be managed and a patient leads a good quality of life.

Therefore, he advises patients to seek information from appropriate sources and advice from qualified medical workers.

On the other hand, Dr. Susan Nakireka Tumwesigye, the body chair of the Uganda NCD Alliance, decries the fact that patients seek care very late when they have developed complications and it is very hard and expensive to treat them.

She says this predisposes people with NCDs to premature death.

Many patients still focus only on treatment with the doctor and do not take the initiative to modify their lifestyles. Nakireka notes that when managing people with NCDs, for example diabetes, doctors recommend several lifestyle interventions, including being physically active, maintaining a healthy diet and reducing alcohol and smoking. But many patients struggle to implement the lifestyle interventions.

Other challenges

According to Mayega, other challenges highlighted by patients are that hospitals and laboratories are too far from where they live, yet they have to go for regular tests and reviews. This especially affects those who live in rural areas.

In Uganda's health care system, access to NCD services starts at the health centre 4, therefore patients have to incur transport costs to go there.

Patients also note that the medicines are expensive yet they are required to be on medication for life.

According to Dr. Gerald Mutungi, the assistant commissioner for NCDs at the health ministry, patients are always given free government drugs, but when they are out of stock, then they have to buy for themselves.

Epidemiologist Mayega urges the Government to improve systems for early detection for both those with risk factors and disease.

Those detected to have risk factors, for example the pre-diabetic, can be initiated on preventive care, while earlier diagnosis of a condition means one is started on treatment early before they develop complications, which makes it not only hard, but also expensive to treat a person.

People living with NCDs are also living with a lot of stress and they note that there is inadequate psycho-social support among communities to promote proper treatment and management because many people do not have a proper understanding of these diseases.

Tips on managing NCDs

Nakireka, Mayega and Mutungi advise people with NCDs and members of the general public to modify their lifestyle and lead healthier lives by:

• Maintaining routine physical activity, at least 30 minutes every day. In addition, as we go on with our daily life, we should grab opportunities to stay physically active, for example by choosing to walk in-between taxi stages instead of taking a bodaboda or using stairs instead of a lift. People are encouraged to start realistic goals by starting small and gradually increase their level of physical activity. Those who are lazy can get an exercise buddy for support.

• Go for regular check-ups so that diagnosis and treatment are done early enough before one develops complications that require expensive medication and affect quality of life. One should regularly check their blood sugar, blood cholesterol, blood pressure and weight.

• Those with NCDs should constantly monitor their condition. They should take charge of caring for themselves and learn all that there is about the disease, so that they can have beneficial interactions with the doctor when they go for review. They should invest in gadgets that will help them monitor sugar levels or blood pressure at home.

• Patients should seek psycho-social support because being on lifelong treatment is known to affect the mental health of an individual by causing them depression in addition to bringing financial constraints.

• Management of NCDs should be a multi-sectoral approach involving all sectors because all of them have an impact on how people live and not only the health sector. The agricultural sector is important to promote healthy eating, the education sector is necessary in educating and sensitizing people about prevention, treatment and management, the transport sector should design roads with walkways so that people can walk instead of using bodaboda, but without worry of being knocked by vehicles.

• We should maintain healthy diets as adults and also for our children. Many parents feed their children on fast foods and processed drinks with a lot of sugar, which predisposes them to developing NCDs.

• Be careful about the habits of the social groups you are in. Many social groups promote unhealthy lifestyles when they regularly meet to drink alcohol and eat meat.

On the other hand, David Mulabi, the CEO/project manager of the East Africa NCD Alliance, urged family members living with someone with an NCD to educate themselves about the disease so as to offer the patient the necessary psycho-social support.

Psycho-social support will also help people to manage stress that worsens their quality of life.