The Director, of the Non- communicable Diseases Program, at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Fred Weedor Amegashie has disclosed that the Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries (NCDI) program at the Health Ministry is underfunded and lead to impoverishment .
He said that the Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and injuries are a major public health burden that needs to be funded to enable it carry out it mandates for which it was established.
Dr. Amegashie made the statement at the Ministry of Health during the launch of the Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries (NCDI) Poverty Commission Report.
According to him, in 2017 the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health established the Liberia NCDI Poverty Commission in collaboration with the Lancet Commission on Reframing Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries for the Poorest Billion.
Speaking through a power point presentation, Dr. Amegashie noted that the objective for the establishment was to explore and quantify the burden of NCDIs (particularly in relation to poverty) and current service availability and to propose an expanded list of priority NCDIs and interventions that could have a favorable impact on the health and economy of Liberia.
Dr. Amegashie said for fiscal year 2013/2014, total health expenditure for NCDIs was $72 percent per capita and , 74.7 percent of all expenditures were out of pocket from households compares to 60 percent for malaria, 30 percent for tobacolusis(TB)19 percent for reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health.
Speaking further, he said the NCDI Commission analysis selected 20 priority conditions, based on the overall health impact of each condition (burden of disease), the severity of the condition in terms of premature mortality (severity), and extent of disability caused by the condition (disability), and the inequality of health outcomes for each condition (equity).
He however recommended that the government expand our NCDI focus and ensure that they are proven health interventions that can address these NCDIs.
“We can prevent early deaths from NCDIs if more investment is provided for the in NCDIs to enable it collect more data on NCDIs” He said .
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