• Kagwe said it is worrying that one in every three deaths and half of all hospital admissions across the country are as a result of the NCDs.
• The CS said the mortality rate from the diseases is rising rapidly resulting to a double burden to many households.
Patients suffering from non-communicable diseases are at more risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Sunday said coronavirus was not the only health concern for the government but the rising cases of the noncommunicable diseases.
Kagwe said it is worrying that one in every three deaths and half of all hospital admissions across the country are as a result of the NCDs.
“This number is projected to rise to 55 percent unless there are sustained attention intervention measures put in place,” he said.
According to Kagwe a large number of the population is either suffering from hypertension, diabetes or cancer.
“Coronavirus is not this the only issue we are concerned about but the health care of all Kenyans to enable them engage in economic growth. Non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cancer are our major public health concerns with regards to its adversity on lost productivity and premature deaths,” Kagwe said.
The CS said the mortality rate from the diseases is rising rapidly resulting to a double burden to many households.
These diseases are the major cause of poverty and many patients die due to cost of care. For instance 24 per cent of our population suffer from high blood pressure and 5 percent have high blood glucose,” he said.
Kagwe said it is sad that 47,000 people are diagnosed with Cancer every year out of which 32,000 of them die.
He said the government in its prevention and control policy seeks to incorporate county governments in creating awareness on the NCDs.
He said for instance Nyeri County which is among those ranked with high burden of NCDs has an annual rate of 700 new cancer cases with half of the deaths reported in the county being as a result of the NCDs.
This is why we are saying as we continue to fight to contain the virus, we must create awareness campaigns on the management of those with NCDs, and encourage them to follow medical advise and observe containment measures,” he said.
His sentiments come even as Kenya’s virus cases hit 3,594 after 137 more people tested positive in the last 24 hours.
This was out of 3,167 samples that were tested.
So far a total of 115,336 samples have been tested since the first case was reported on March 11.
Another 1,253 patients have been discharged after full recovery.
Unfortunately, three more died in the same period rising the number to 103 the total number of deaths.
Globally, the diseases has left 7,807,734 people infected with 430,529 dead.