By Francis Chipalo
Excess consumption of alcohol is a leading cause to a number of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country, a health expert Dr Benadicto Njovu has disclosed.
And Dr. Njobvu says most well-to-do families spend most of their incomes treating NCDs being long term health conditions and thereby bringing stress among family members.
Giving a heath talk to personnel from the banking sector that convened at the OYDC Zambia – sports development center over the weekend for the 2024 Bankers Sports Day, Dr. Njobvu of the Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) public health committee urged participants to reduce alcohol intake.
“Unhealthy consumption of alcohol puts us at a high risk of NCDs such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke and other complications, so we need to moderate our alcohol intake as a people,” Dr. Njobvu said.
And the medical practitioner further indicated that smoking, stress and unhealthy eating habits all contributed to NCDs among the working class.
“As professionals we can be so busy such that we do not have time for a proper meal and would just grab a snack and all these have a negative effects on our health. We need to adopt health lifestyles and find time for physical exercise which can help in alleviating NCDs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Njobvu disclosed that treating NCDs is a costly undertaking.
He said families with patients having such conditions continue spending on treatment such as physio with the conditions being long term.
He however added that avoiding NCDs can be more cheaper than treatment, stating that simple physical fitness such as aerobics would come in handy.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NCDs kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 74% of all deaths globally.
Each year, 17 million people die from a NCD before the age of 70; 86%of these deaths occur in low and middle – income countries.
The overall number of deaths from NCDs in Zambia according to research conducted by Open Access and published in March 2024 was at 28.81%.
An analysis by gender showed that deaths from NCDs were higher among women (32.60%) as compared to men (26.25%).
