• The Ministry of Health admits disruptions caused by Covid-19 have affected progress on other diseases.
• The increase is blamed on risky lifestyles including unhealthy diet, increased tobacco and alcohol use, and ineffective health interventions.
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Kenya is among the 34 countries where the risk of dying prematurely from non-communicable diseases is rising.
The increase is blamed on risky lifestyles including unhealthy diet, increased tobacco and alcohol use, and ineffective health interventions.
The situation means the country will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target to reduce premature deaths from NCDs by a third by 2030 relative to 2015 levels.
The report published in the Lancet health journal this week notes that most countries in the world are reducing the risk, although the numbers of people dying may be growing due to rising population.
It explores the probability of dying between 30 years and 70 years in 176 countries, from four major NCDs: cancers, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.
For Kenyan women, the risk of death from breast, cervical, lung, and the upper digestive tract cancers is rising the fastest.
Among men, the risk is growing fastest for ischaemic heart disease, upper digestive tract cancers, hemorrhagic stroke and cardiovascular diseases.
"Around the world, the risk of dying prematurely from preventable and largely treatable chronic diseases such as stroke, heart disease, and stomach cancer has declined steadily over the past decade," says the Lancet report.
"But death rates from other chronic diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer, colon cancer, and liver cancer are declining too slowly or worsening in many countries," it adds.
The report comes shortly after the NCD Alliance Kenya raised concern over the increased deaths of people with NCDs during the Covid-19 emergency.
The alliance says NCDs account for 55 per cent of hospital admissions, 50 per cent of hospital deaths and 33 per cent of total deaths in Kenya.
It says since Covid-19 was reported in Kenya, access to NCD treatment and care has been compromised.
"People living with NCDs are experiencing disruptions in NCD healthcare services which puts them at higher risk of developing life-threatening NCD complications and severe Covid-19," the Nairobi-based alliance says in a statement.
Lancet says most countries reporting rising risk of death from NCDs are largely in Africa.
The report is based on data from the 2016 WHO Global Health Estimates on age, sex, and cause-specific mortality for 176 countries.
"We must ensure that all NCDs are addressed in Covid-19 recovery plans so that we can turn this deadly tide," said Dr Bente Mikkelsen, director of NCDs at the World Health Organization.
The Ministry of Health admits disruptions caused by Covid-19 have affected progress on other diseases.
CAS Rashid Aman says, for instance, fewer Kenyans are being treated for malaria in hospitals, although the disease burden has not reduced.
He said health facilities in Kenya treat about 300,000 people for malaria every week.
But since the Covid-19 pandemic was reported, that number reduced to about 100,000 people every week.
"We need to get people to visit facilities anytime that they feel they have symptoms of malaria," Aman said recently.
He noted that the drop in people visiting the facilities is attributed to fear and stigma.
"Our medical research experts, however, attribute this drastic drop to the fact that majority of those who develop malaria symptoms have been self-medicating, by purchasing drugs from chemists," he said.
"The other reasons could be fear of being tested for Covid-19 or fear of contracting Covid-19 when visiting our health facilities."