Commonwealth to tackle non-communicable diseases in West Africa

The Commonwealth Secretariat will be holding a workshop, which will explore action plans to deal with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases in West Africa.

Scheduled to take place in The Gambia from June 26 to 27, 2012, it will see five Commonwealth countries in West Africa participating in the event. The Commonwealth member countries taking part are Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The workshop aims to develop, support and harmonise member countries’ NCDs action plans, their monitoring and evaluation tools and explore their options for raising resources to deal with NCDs, the Secretariat said in a statement.

It added that the workshop will also focus on aligning country policies and plans with the Brazzaville Declaration on NCDs and the UN Political Declaration on NCDs.

Head of the Secretariat’s Health Section, Magna Aidoo, said “By working in partnership with regional and sub-regional organisations, the Health Section is operationalising a key component of the Commonwealth Secretariat Road Map on NCDs, thereby ensuring sustainable support for member countries in West Africa to fulfill international commitments to prevent and control NCDs.”

NCDs such as cancers and diabetes are projected to become the most common causes of death in the African region by 2030, according to the Secretariat.

By Ekow Quandzie