Non-communicable Diseases Spreading Fast in Ethiopia, Says Ministry of Health

ENA February 26/2020 Non-communicable diseases are spreading fast and increasing in Ethiopia, according to Ministry of Health.

Opening the workshop on non-communicable diseases, Health State Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse said non-communicable diseases (NCDs) take higher proportion of death and burden and are spreading  and increasing in the country.

According to her, the country has shown sign of epidemiological shift towards "fast growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases which calls for new and innovative public health strategies to tackle double burden of diseases."

The ministry has adopted strategy and action plan to prevent and control NCDs, she added.

Dr. Lia stated that the workshop would enable to identify priority areas in implementing the strategy that focuses on prevention, screening and controlling.

Non-communicable diseases constitute the highest proportion of deaths, about 52 percent of the deaths in the country.

The state minister revealed that 16 percent of the population has hypertension and 3 up to 4 percent diabetes.

Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) Director, Tiberio Chiari said Italy supports health improvements in Ethiopia through many programs and non-communicable disease is one of the components.

Outcomes of the workshop are expected to provide additional evidence and possible inputs for the efforts in achieving Universal Health Coverage in Ethiopia as well as achieving target 3.4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.

The Ministry of Health and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) jointly organized the two-day workshop on “The Durable Burden of Diseases and Challenges on Service Provision and Integration in Ethiopia: Evidences Generated from Different Experiences.”