The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), is concerned about the growing pandemic of Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
The clergy, who met for a two-day forum to review the State of the Nation and address the pandemic, said the scourge is responsible for more than 50 per cent of hospitalisations and 39 per cent of deaths in the country.
Speaking after the two-day deliberations, Reverend Alphonse Kanga, Chairman of the NCCK Nairobi Region, appealed to the government to declare NCDs a national emergency, considering it is now the leading cause of death after accidents.
“We call upon the government to declare NCDs a national emergency, to facilitate attention and allocation of requisite resources,” he said.
The Reverend condemned the underfunding from the government and said only Sh8 billion had been allocated to the National Strategy on Non-Communicable Diseases (2022–26), against a total budget of Sh37 billion.
He termed this allocation "a manifestation of disdain for the suffering and deaths of Kenyans.
“It is grossly unfortunate that the government has not allocated adequate human financial resources, to managing the NCDs,” he said.
The NCCK Chairman advised the government to curtail the trend as soon as possible, to rescue the nation from a full-blown NCD epidemic.
Kanga called on the government to protect public health by regulating the consumption of high levels of sugars, salts, and saturated fats and oils, as well as educate Kenyans on healthy diets, by introducing front-pack warning labels in order to safeguard their health.
“We call upon both the national and county governments to enact laws and regulations that will require all food processors to include clear, readable front-of-pack warning labels and to address the targeting of children with advertisements for unhealthy foods,” the NCCK Chairman said.
The NCCK advised the government, through the Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders, to adopt the nutrient profile model, as it is essential for providing standards, to determine acceptable levels of different nutrients across various food groups.
He urged the government to revert to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), until the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), is fully ready and said the rushed transition, has led to the inaccessibility of essential healthcare services.
“We demand the government suspends the implementation of the SHIF and reverts to the NHIF until the SHIF puts all necessary measures and structures in place,” he said.
He said SHIF has brought no benefits to Kenyans, other than increased premiums paid by the public.
“We call for a radical change in the benefits provided under the SHIF, to ensure they match or at least are better than the benefits we enjoyed under the NHIF,” Kanga said.
“It does not make sense to us that Kenyans are now paying more, but are getting fewer benefits.”
The two-day forum was running under the theme “Policy Framework for Healthy Lives.”
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), comprising cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer, are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
In Kenya, NCDs are responsible for more than 50 per cent of in-patient hospital admissions and 39 per cent of all deaths annually.
