By Kitts D. Mabonga
Kampala
The Makerere University College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS) in partnership with the Nutrition society of Uganda (NSU) have launched an E resources for health website which shall act as a medium to inform, educate and communicate about Non communicable diseases (NCDs)
The website will providing well researched, informed to motivate, empower and support readers to make healthy lifestyle choices.
The launch ceremony took place at the Makerere University science quadrangle under the theme ‘Using the internet to incentivize healthy lifestyle choices in Uganda’ which brought together government agencies, nutrition experts, the academia, civil society organizations (NGOs)and nutrition students form Universities across the country.
The website is funded by the Government of Uganda through Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (MakRIF Round 3).
Speaking during the launch of website Dr.Oyoo Akiya the commissioner NCDs department of the ministry of health said NCDs are a global burden which must be fought by all stakeholders by way of encouraging citizens to avoid eating junk foods which are the greatest contributor to deaths related to NCDs.
He congratulated the head of department Biochemistry and sports science at CoNAS Dr. Rhona Baingana with her team and all stakeholders that enabled the strategic website project design.
“E resources for health score its success points of achievement due to fact that the ministry was working with key stakeholders in ensuring that they build public capacity through carrying out mass sensitization campaigns in urging citizens to desist from eating junk foods as they are detrimental to both their health and life” said Akiya
The e Resources for health is an authority on food, nutrition and general wellness knowledge which provides unbiased evidence-based information to motivate, empower and support users to make healthy life style choices thereby contributing to efforts to prevent and counter NCDs in Uganda.
Statistics s Non-Communicable Diseases
Globally, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), namely cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, cause an estimated 41 million deaths annually,equivalent to 71% of all death
Notably 77 percent of NCDs deaths are in low- and middle-income countries. Majority of these deaths are premature (i.e., more than 15 million people die from an NCD between 30 and 69 years annually).
85% of premature NCDs related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, Uganda inclusive. Lifestyle factors, including unhealthy diet, tobacco use, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol, largely contribute to the NCDs burden.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2019), 35 percent of total deaths in Uganda are due to NCDs. Every Ugandan citizen’s probability of dying prematurely from NCDs is 22 percent.
According to Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), cancer cases are rapidly rising, with 4,000 new cases registered annually. Some 27 percent of adults in the country are hypertensive, and diabetes cases increased by 7 percent between
Background:
He noted that a wareness, knowledge, and application of approaches to mitigate Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) risk in Uganda are low while furthermore, evidence-based, user-friendly, and easily accessible information about NCDs tailored to our setting is scarce.
Akiya also noted that with a growing trend of misinformation via social media and at the same time, the burden of NCDs growing in Uganda contributing 33% of the annual hospital deaths as highlighted in the reports and notably, urban residence, higher education, and wealth status are associated with a higher risk of NCDs.
Personal, household and national healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk of NCDs as well. The Internet presents an opportunity for health promotion; however, the country is yet to leverage the Internet in this way in Uganda.
But to address this gap, a team comprising Makerere University faculty and members of the Nutrition Society of Uganda (NSU) were awarded a grant from the Government of Uganda through Makerere Research and Innovations
Fund (MakRIF) for the project.
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Methodology:
Through the medium of a website, the program shall provide well-researched, unbiased evidence-based information to motivate, empower and support readers to make healthy lifestyle choices as well as the information talks about healthy weight, healthy eating, fitness, and generally healthy lifestyles, to prevent NCDs.
The information will be provided in a style that is user-friendly and understandable by the public while maintaining its authenticity, with links to accessible source publications. Supportive information such as recipes and links to relevant and reliable online resources
(e.g. Presidential Initiative on Healthy Eating and Healthy Lifestyle) will also be provided. The website will be regularly updated to ensure the information and data are up-to-date and accurate.
Relevance:
This innovation supports the human capital development program area of NDPIII under the health sector to reduce development of NCDs among persons aged 18+ years: to integrate nutrition services in prevention, control and management of Diet-Related Non-Communicable Diseases (DRNCDs).
In addition to supporting “health starts at home”, this innovative platform will support the health sector to increase utilization of Nutrition-Specific services and enhance the prevention, management and control of DRNCDs through education of the Ugandan population.
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Furthermore, it will demonstrate how information and communication technology (ICT) can support the health sector to increase awareness about NCDs – a health and lifestyle problem of public health importance.
Technology empowers consumers to manage their education and health, using solutions such as wearable devices, trackers for food and nutrition intake and tech-powered water bottles that monitor water intake.
Thus, the use of ICTs to co-contextualize diet and nutrition with consumers via a web-based educational platform will be transformational in the field of health and nutrition in Uganda.