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Health experts blame unhealthy lifestyle for NCDs


Bangladeshpost
Published : 20 Oct 2019 09:12 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 01:53 PM

Health experts today blamed unhealthy lifestyle for alarmingly increasing of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country, reports BSS. “NCDs are largely caused by unhealthy lifestyles including tobacco consumption, having poor diet, insufficient physical activity and harmful use of alcohol. So, people need to change their harmful lifestyle to prevent NCDs in the country.”

Secretary of Health Services Division of Health and Family Welfare Ministry Md Ashadul Islam said this while inaugurating the “1st Scientific Congress on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs)” as the chief guest at Shaheed Dr Milon Hall of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) here.

A tripartite initiative of icddr,b, BSMMU and the British Medical Journal (BMJ) organised the two-day event that will be concluded following an award giving ceremony tomorrow. BSMMU Vice Chancellor Professor Kanak Kanti Barua presided over the programme.

He said, “To lessen the impact of NCDs on individuals and society, a comprehensive approach is needed in all sectors, including health, finance, transport, education, agriculture, planning and others to change the harmful lifestyle and reduce the risks associated with NCDs”. Head of Initiative for Non-communicable Diseases at icddr,b and convener of the Congress Dr Aliya Naheed said, “We still have huge challenges ahead to curb down the pre-mature mortality by NCDs and achieve SDG target 3.4 by 2030.”

“The congress aims to bring solutions from not only from the health sector but also from the non health sectors for improving quality of primary health care services for NCDs in Bangladesh,” she added. The aim of the first ever scientific congress on NCDs is to develop a strong institutional platform and strengthen research collaborations between clinicians and public health researchers in Bangladesh.

It also offers an opportunity to present and share the works on NCDs with national and international experts. The congress will help developing pragmatic strategies for tackling NCDs in the country and achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.4, focused on “reduction of pre-mature mortality by one-third from non-communicable diseases within 2030 through prevention and treatment, and to promote mental health and wellbeing”.

Nine key issues have been selected to be presented at the Congress including hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, prevention of diabetes, stroke and other neurological disorders, mental health and neuro development disorders, chronic kidney diseases, rheumatology and musculoskeletal disorders, chronic respiratory disease and oncology.

More than 400 participants are taking part in the congress and about 200 abstracts have been submitted. One in four Bangladeshi adult aged 25 or more are hypertensive, while one in ten had diabetes, according to a 2015 estimate.

The prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is 13.5 per cent by GOLD criteria among Bangladeshis. Prevalence of cancer is also very high – an estimated 1.3-1.5 million patients are suffering from cancer with 200,000 newly diagnosed cases each year. Kidney Foundation of Bangladesh estimates 18 million people suffer from kidney disease of which annually 35,000-40,000 patients develop chronic kidney diseases, eventually leading to kidney failure.