WHO worries about non-communicable diseases in Pacific region

A McDonald's restaurant in a shopping mall in Beijing, capital of China on July 21, 2011. (Photo DB=Xinhua)

The World Health Organization(WHO) is worried about non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Pacific region, WHO Western Pacific Regional Director Dr Shin Young-Soo said here Monday.

The WHO official expressed the worries while meeting with Fiji’ s Ministry of Health officials to look at challenges faced by the island nation and various engagement opportunities between Fiji and the world health body.

Young-Soo said he is concerned at how the vast changes to lifestyles in the Pacific have greatly affected the health of those in the region.

“Looking at non-communicable diseases and the statistics over the last 20 years in terms of mobility and fatalities, there has been a dramatic increase in NCD due to lifestyle changes,” he added.

According to him, there has been an increase in diabetes with a prevalence rate of 40 percent in the Pacific which is dangerous. Ninety percent in the Pacific are obese and this poses other health problems.

“We have to address this issue seriously as our eating habits are changing as we are consuming more processed food while behavior and family life has also changed,” Young-Soo said, adding the only intervention is early stage education and the responsibility lies with all sectors of the community to address the NCD crisis in the Pacific.

Dr Joe Koroivueta, Deputy Secretary for Public Health of Fiji’s Ministry of Health, echoed Young-Soo by saying that the challenge for the ministry is the premature deaths occurring in the population as 82 percent of all deaths are attributed to NCDs.

Coronary heart diseases and strokes have been noted as one of the contributing factors to those dying in the 40-59 age group in Fiji, says Koroivueta.

According to the Fijian official, this year, one of the main focuses for the Ministry of Health NCDs campaign is to move away from disease focused approach to wellness approach.

“This will see change of awareness messages advocated to people with more emphasis on addressing risk factors of NCDs such as quit smoking, drink responsibility, eat balanced diet and exercise regularly rather than talking more about the disease itself.”

Pacific Islands and U.S. territories in the region have among the highest rates of non-communicable diseases and risk factors in the world that, if left unchecked, will threaten the survival of Pacific people within a few generations, according to a regional health expert.

Reporting on the outcome of a conference last year, Pacific Island Health Officers Association(PIHOA) President Dr Stevenson Kuartei said these non-communicable diseases, or NCDs, caused tremendous suffering among Pacific peoples and consumed the largest part of health budgets.

“Of all the nations in the world, Pacific island countries and territories have among very highest rates of Non-communicable diseases and NCD-risk factors-obesity, alcohol, tobacco, poor diet, and physical inactivity,” said Kuartei. <Xinhua>

news@theasian.asia