The Malawi Non Communicable Disease Alliance (MWNCDA) aims to develop a national advocacy agenda of people living with Non Communicable Diseases – NCDs in Malawi. The agenda will further include strategies for engaging stakeholders; publicizing issues surrounding the NCD; and developing both strategic and advocacy recommendations that the MWNCDA can implement in regards to people living with NCDs.
Malawi NCD Alliance project goal is to support network of people living with NCDs in producing the National Advocacy Agenda. The project engages people living with NCDs, representatives of diverse range NCDs, care partners through in-depth interviews and community conversations.
Speaking during a consultation meeting held at Simama Hotel in Lilongwe on the 24th of August 2021, Malawi Health Equity Network – MHEN Executive Director, Mr. George Jobe, said the NCDs are a common challenge that Malawi is facing due to lifestyle of people and other factors. He lamented that despite this challenge it is unfortunate that most people are not aware of the NCDs and therefore appealed for more awareness on the part of both NGOs and the Government. He also encouraged the general public to be going for deliberate check-ups at the health centers so that where it is preventable, people should know.
Mr. Hastings Chiumia who represented the Ministry of Health at the meeting emphasized that the Government has strategies put in place to curb this challenge of NCDs including the NCD Strategy 2017-22. Mr. Chumia also asked the press to assist in proliferation of messages about NCDs.
Samuel Chimwanje, Project Coordinator for the National Agenda, dubbed, “Our Views our Voices” said that they engaged all the stakeholders including people living with NCDs in order to get the true picture of the issues surrounding the NCDs in Malawi. This was done through consultations with them. They therefore developed a tailor made National Agenda which will see these issues addressed once it is adopted.
Issues that were highlighted by the people living with NCDs included stigma and discrimination, shortage of drugs, high prices for the drugs, theft of drugs by health personnel at the hospitals. These factors make the drugs inaccessible.
According to Matthew Gowshall and Simon D Taylor study,” The increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases in low-middle income countries: the view from Malawi”, 75% of global deaths occur from NCDs. As a low income African Country that consistently ranks among the world’s poorest nations, Malawi has demonstrated how transition due to societal change and increasing urbanization is often accompanied by a rise in the rate of NCDs.
28% of deaths in Malawi are due to NCDs and the figure continues to rise in the Sub-Saharan region. Some of the NCDs in Malawi include; Stroke, Hypertension, Hemophilia, cancer and Diabetes.
Asthma has a prevalence of 8% comparing to the UK which is at 12%. Despite this it is likely that Asthma remains under-diagnosed and under-treated in Malawi as evidenced by Asthma age standardized mortality rate which is higher than that of which is one of the high income western country.
There is a higher age-standardized mortality rate for Cardio Vascular Disease in Malawi than in many developed countries, including the UK which has an ASMR of 100–175 per 100,000 compared to Malawi’s 250–325.When using age adjusted incidence rates, Malawi also has a greater rate than the UK of both ischemic heart disease (2166.8 per 100,000 population vs 1098.6) and stroke (1550.1 vs 452.5). A 2009 Step-wise approach to surveillance (STEPS) survey examined the prevalence of some cardiovascular risk factors in a Malawian population and reported that despite high CVD mortality, many “traditional” risk factors remain relatively uncommon in the Malawian adult population. The prevalence of obesity (7.4%), raised cholesterol >5 mmol/L (8.7%), and smoking (14.1%) are low, especially in comparison to the figures from the high-income Western countries such as the UK (26.9%, ~55.5%, and 17.2% respectively).