The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has raised concern over increased cases of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.
NCCK Upper Eastern region Vice Chairman James Kimathi who read a statement on behalf of the clergy called for urgent interventions to contain the Non-communicable diseases whose prevalence rate is at 27 percent.
He spoke when he addressed the media on Friday at Gitoro conference center, North Imenti constituency in Meru County.
“They are now the most threatening diseases in Kenya. They account for 39 percent of deaths in the country and are responsible for 50 percent of all cases of hospitalization.
“The financial burden of this condition is equally huge. A patient with just one NCD condition spends more than Sh 150,000 per year on outpatient care alone,” said Kimathi.
He urged the government to increase funding towards the prevention of Non communicable diseases.
“The government promised only Sh8 billion to finance the national strategy on non-communicable diseases 2022-2026 against a budget of Kenya Sh377 billion. In Kenya, almost every family has a person suffering from cancer, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and others,” Rev Kimathi said.
He said the conditions take away meagre savings of Kenyans to pay for healthcare.
“We call on the ministry of health to spearhead a national campaign to deal with threats posed by non communicable diseases,” the clergy said.
He recommended that the government declare NCDS a national emergency to mobilize maximum stakeholders resources.
“In the past the government has spearheaded a massive campaign to address disease conditions when they reach threatening prevalence rates such as malaria in and HIV/AIDS,” Kimathi said.
Kimathi added that all food with saturated fats, sugars among others should have warning labels in their packets.
“The warning labels of the products should have clear and have same size colour and consistency,” he said.
He lauded the ministry of health for completing the development and adoption of nutrient profile model and urged KEBS and Competition Authority of Kenya to endorse the it to protect Kenyans.
He said the number of children diagnosed with non communicable diseases is worrying.
NCCK is also calling on Kenya Institute of Curriculum Developiment and Kenya National Examination Council to include nutrition as part of the syllabus.
Kimathi said the ministry of health should reform the Taifa care and make it meaningful or else revert to NHIF.
Politics in churches
He urged the politician to focus on service delivery instead of early campaigns.
Kimathi said they will ensure that politicians do not turn places of worship into political rallies.
“We call upon our fellow clergy to adhere to guidelines issued by the NCCK executive committee which states that any politician will be treated the same as all other worshippers and should not get any special treatment,” he said.
NCCK says all monetary contributions should be treated as offerings and shall not be announced.
