[Health Principal Secretary, Dr Nicholas Muraguri. Photo/The Standard]
The Ministry of Health has embarked on a plan to build an investment case for Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The tool will define the country’s NCD disease burden in economic terms and inform appropriate mechanisms for financing priority interventions in the fight against NCDs.
The investment which is being developed with support from the World Bank, will outline the country’s NCDs financial burden and provide a platform to guide cost-effective interventions aimed at preventing and controlling NCDs.
Health Principal Secretary, Dr Nicholas Muraguri said it will also identify a set of priorities for accelerating NCD prevention and control in the country in line with the findings of the '2016 STEPwise' Survey on NCDs.
According to the survey, NCDs currently account for 27 per cent of deaths between 30 and 70-years-old, translating to about 370,000 deaths annually.
Muraguri said the government was seeking technical assistance from the World Bank Group to advance the profile of the NCD burden to state and non-state actors and to complement the robust policy framework which the Ministry of Health established to curb the rise of NCDs.
“We anticipate your participation in this meeting will furnish us with a consensus on a set of key priorities, including best buys for accelerating NCD prevention and control in Kenya.''
''We also look forward to an agreement on the next steps and roadmap for developing options for sustainable financing for NCD prevention and control,” he said, as quoted by health.go.ke, Thursday.