RWANDA—The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Rwanda aims to implement new improvements in healthcare, giving more attention to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which have now surpassed infectious diseases as the leading cause of death.
According to the WHO, the most common NCDs include cardiovascular (heart) disorders, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, including asthma.
NCDs tend to be of long duration and result from a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioural factors.
They disproportionately affect people in low- and middle-income countries, where more than three-quarters of global NCD deaths (31.4 million) occur.
Of these premature deaths, 86% are estimated to occur in low- and middle-income countries.
While NCDs often manifest in adulthood, many have their origins in behaviours adopted during childhood and adolescence.
Evidence shows that 17 million NCD deaths occur before the age of 70, making children, adults, and the elderly vulnerable to the risk factors contributing to NCDs.
Tobacco use, lack of physical activity, unhealthy diets, and excessive alcohol consumption all increase the risk of dying from non-communicable diseases.
According to Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, NCD mortality has increased during the last decade, while infectious disease mortality has decreased, despite the country’s health system being primarily built to address infectious diseases.
Muhammed Semakula, the MoH’s Head of the Department of Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Health Financing, stated that the death rate for the four major NCDs (cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer, and diabetes) was 695 per 100,000 in males and 609 in females in 2021.
Speaking to the New Times, he noted that the ministry is already working on changes that the government expects will equip Community Health Workers (CHWs) with information for managing NCDs. There are also plans to quadruple the health workforce by 2028.
He emphasized that the ministry’s goal is to have 95% of all diseases managed at the primary care level and underlined that having excellent CHWs at the baseline will allow for the early discovery and treatment of problems, thus preventing high expenses caused by delays.
According to him, the epidemiological transition in the country has been incorporated into Rwanda’s fourth Health Sector Strategy plan (2018-2024), reflecting the rise in population and life expectancy, as well as the predicted increase in the health needs of older people, notably for NCDs.
The WHO believes that risk factors for NCDs are frequently avoidable; therefore, adequate health interventions can greatly lower their prevalence before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as during childhood and adolescence.
Addressing NCDs is also critical for improving individual well-being and advancing development because NCDs have ramifications for nutrition, education, and the environment.
Therefore, governments, corporations, and communities must take greater action to prevent them from becoming epidemics.
To reduce NCDs, Rwanda has undertaken several NCD-fighting initiatives, including NCD policy and planning, NCD guidelines, tobacco tariffs, tobacco media campaigns, and alcohol advertising limits.
NCD detection, screening, therapy, and palliative care are also critical components of the NCD response.
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