The Challenge of Noncommunicable Diseases in Rural Malawi
What are Noncommunicable Diseases?
Noncommunicable diseases are conditions that include cancers, Sickle cell, Asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic lung illnesses. Other conditions such as injuries and mental health disorders are also considered NCDs. NCDs result in long term health complications and often create a need for long term treatment and care.
The challenge of Noncommunicable Diseases in rural Malawi
There is a huge challenge of NCDs in rural Malawi including finding treatment at rural hospitals, owing to lack of information, resources and training for NCD care. In Malawi, rates of heart disease and diabetes are 9% and 6% respectively, prevalence of hypertension ranges from around 18 to 32%, and obesity is estimated at 18.5%.
How Orant hopes to advance treatment of NCDs in Malawi
At our Health Centre, we treat a number of NCDs everyday. With the rising cases and risk factors posed by NCDs, recently our healthcare team received training on NCDs. Moving forward, we are planning to open a noncommunicable diseases clinic so that we can effectively treat and provide care to the high numbers of NCD cases that we receive. We are also looking for partners to collaborate with in this drive.
For other cases that require further examination and treatment, we refer patients to secondary healthcare facilities where they are required to go every month to get assisted at NCD clinics. Since most of the population that we serve cannot afford transportation costs, our healthcare program provides transport money for such people, to ensure they get the required treatment. Read Consollata’s story to learn more about the impact of NCDs in our community.
How can NCDs be prevented?
Many NCDs can be prevented by reducing common risk factors such as smoking, harmful alcohol use, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating habits and diets. Stay tuned for more information about our Noncommunicable Disease Clinic in the coming months!
