NCD Alliance launches newsletter for People Living With Non-Communicable Diseases
By Adeyemi Adeleye
The Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) Alliance, Nigeria on Tuesday launched a newsletter for the People Living With Non-Communicable Diseases ( PLWNCDs) to create more awareness.
The Executive Director of NCDs Alliance, Prof. Akin Osibogun, at the media launch in Lagos, said that without experiences of people living with NCDs, it would be challenging to deliver inclusive people-centred healthcare for them.
According to him, the newsletter published by lead champions of PLWNCDs was to bring patients together under a common umbrella, promote NCD advocacies and give voice to millions of PLWNCDs for treatment and care.
“The newsletter is to give People Living With NCDs a voice. If they have a voice it solves a lot of psycho-social problems. It empowers them to be able to withstand discrimination and to be able to stand by themselves.
“By engaging and involving the PLWNCDs, we will be able to get a better understanding of their experiences. They are the ones wearing the shoes, they know how they are feeling.
“By establishing this platform for them, it enables them to communicate with one another, with government and other stakeholders.
“This will make the government and stakeholders to have a better perspective of what people living with NCDs are going through and how programmes should be planned for them,” Osibogun said.
He said that PLWNCDs should be at the centre of policy, practice and programmes creation in all aspects of the NCD response.
According to him, the lead champions PLWNCDs were to be the rallying points for millions of Nigerians across the country living with one or more NVDs, be their voice in the push for reduction of risk of NCDS and advocacies.
He said that all stakeholders and all institutions interested in NCDs would be availed copies of the newsletter planned to be released quarterly and nearest future to be translated into major Nigerian.
The professor said that the newsletter would also help to mobilise more Nigerians still on the streets living with NCDs and help them with reliable information on what to do and access to care.
Enumerating some of the challenges facing PLWNCDs, Osibogun said that many patients were still faced with high cost of diagnosis, treatment and care as well as and discrimination.
“We need to combat the challenge of discrimination against PLWNCDs and that of accessing treatment. Many NCDs are chronic in nature and therefore will require long term expenses,” he added.
Osibogun said that the NCD Alliance had been involved in advocacies to government and other stakeholders at all level to get into the country therapeutic of drugs required for treatment of NCDs at reasonable prices.
According to him, PLWNCD should be able to access treatment and drugs at a cost that will not send them into poverty.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President of NCD Alliance Nigeria, Dr Sonny Kuku expressed satisfaction with the newsletter, saying it would further create awareness about NCDs and the challengea facing the patients.
In his remarks, Mr Michael Uchunor, the editor of the Newsletter, who said that PLWNCDs needed to be heard, urged the government to give more attention to PLWNCDs through drugs affordability, removal of discrimination and creation of job opportunities.
“Many of us do not have money to buy drugs, access to inclusive schools is another problem and job opportunities. We must voices out and tell the government and other stakeholders to come to our aid. Government must hear of voices and make life easier for us,” Uchunor said.
The main NCDs are Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Chronic Respiratory Diseases, Mental Health, Sickle cell disease, Cancer, Neurological Disorder such as dementia.
