Non-communicable diseases may gulp more of country's budgets, Nutritionist warns

chika ebuzor

August 27, 2015 7:22 AM

She described NCDs as a medical condition which were chronic in nature, non contagious and could lead to deformity or death.

Ebola health workers rest outside a quarantine zone at a Red Cross facility in the town of Koidu, Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Nigerians might be spending more than three per cent of their healthcare budgets on the management of non-communicable diseases in the next 10 years if they do not embark on adequate nutrition and decent lifestyles.

Dr Chika Ndiokwelu, a consultant nutritionist and dietician on said this on Wednesday that at a one-day workshop on: ``Adequate Nutrition and Lifestyle : Essential for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases(NCDs).

Ndiokwelu speaking at the event organised by Coca-Cola Ccompany said that adequate nutrition and positive lifestyles were essential to reduce the risk factors of NDCs.

She said that these diseases represented a major threat to health and development in the 21st century.

"NDCs account for 60 per cent of all deaths globally and 43 per cent of disease burden.

"There are four major NDCs - cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes mellitus. They are the world's biggest killers as they account for 36 million deaths annually."

"In Nigeria situation, estimation shows that more than three per cent of healthcare cost will form the management of non-communicable diseases in the next 10 years," she said.

chika ebuzor