Preventing non-communicable disease hinges on lifestyle modifications - WHO

Ms. Joana Assong, the Focal Person for Non-communicable Diseases and Risk Factors at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Ghana Office has said that preventing non-communicable diseases is dependent on lifestyle modifications by all people.

She said the burden of non-communicable diseases was caused by lifestyle choices in terms of diet, physical exercise, tobacco use, and air pollution.

Ms Assong made the call during a health walk event organized by the WHO to mark the 75th anniversary of the multilateral health organization.

She said to address the health burden precipitated by non-communicable diseases, she called for considerable lifestyle modifications, which involve annual physical activities, particularly exercise and called for significant diet modifications to feature less salt intake and the inclusion of fruits and vegetables.

“For non-communicable diseases, the burden is based on several modifiable risk factors, which include issues related to obesity, physical inactivity, and tobacco use.

“These things are termed modifiable because changes can be made through lifestyle choices.”

Dr. Francis Kasolo, WHO representative to Ghana, spoke on the importance of Ghana's attainment of universal health coverage (UHC), which he said was key in the preventive measures of health conditions that have long-term effects on the population.

He praised Ghana’s UHC roadmap, which he said would enable the country to have the required policy framework to achieve the UHC by 2030.

Dr Kasolo said the anniversary aside the health walk would feature activities, such as health-related topics discussions on Twitter space, a health insurance summit in Ghana, mental health awareness programmes, as well as HIV awareness programmes.