Nairobi, Apr 20: Under
nutrition, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases are leading to
catastrophic costs to individuals, to communities and to national healthcare
systems in Africa.
Every year, it is estimated that 11 million Africans fall
into poverty due to high out-of-pocket payments for healthcare.
According to experts attending a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, nutritional status, a critical component of a person’s health and wellbeing, must be recognized as a necessary building block towards achieving Universal
Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, a WHO African Region report on Friday said.
“Not only do current figures mean we are unlikely to achieve the six global nutrition targets for 2025 but also the more ambitious target of ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, which is integral to the goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all, at all ages,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa.
She added that “an exclusive focus of our energies – and finances– on curative services and related medical equipment, supplies and medicines to treat diseases that often are rooted in malnutrition will limit our chances of achieving health and well-being for all.”
In 2016, an estimated 59 million children in Africa were stunted and 14 million suffered from wasting – a strong predictor of mortality among children under five. That same year, 10 million were overweight; almost double the figure from 2000.
In a 2014 report on Africa it was estimated that per cent of males and 15 per cent of females over 18 years of age were obese. The same report showed that 8 per cent of adults above 25 years of age had diabetes and that is expected to double by 2035, while hypertension affected 46 per cent.
Poverty, hunger and disease are the main drivers of malnutrition in the African region and are linked with poor living conditions, lack of education, insecure livelihoods, and lack of access to basic services including health care and healthy, safe, nutritious foods.
“The burden of undernutrition still persists across the African region, and today its impacts are being felt alongside overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases in many poor households,” said Dr Felicitas Zawaira, Director of the Family and Reproductive Health Cluster at the WHO Regional Office.
“In recent years, we’ve rightly focused many of our energies on addressing hunger, but what we must recognize is that ending hunger does not guarantee improved nutrition”, she added. UNI
According to experts attending a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, nutritional status, a critical component of a person’s health and wellbeing, must be recognized as a necessary building block towards achieving Universal
Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, a WHO African Region report on Friday said.
“Not only do current figures mean we are unlikely to achieve the six global nutrition targets for 2025 but also the more ambitious target of ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, which is integral to the goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all, at all ages,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa.
She added that “an exclusive focus of our energies – and finances– on curative services and related medical equipment, supplies and medicines to treat diseases that often are rooted in malnutrition will limit our chances of achieving health and well-being for all.”
In 2016, an estimated 59 million children in Africa were stunted and 14 million suffered from wasting – a strong predictor of mortality among children under five. That same year, 10 million were overweight; almost double the figure from 2000.
In a 2014 report on Africa it was estimated that per cent of males and 15 per cent of females over 18 years of age were obese. The same report showed that 8 per cent of adults above 25 years of age had diabetes and that is expected to double by 2035, while hypertension affected 46 per cent.
Poverty, hunger and disease are the main drivers of malnutrition in the African region and are linked with poor living conditions, lack of education, insecure livelihoods, and lack of access to basic services including health care and healthy, safe, nutritious foods.
“The burden of undernutrition still persists across the African region, and today its impacts are being felt alongside overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases in many poor households,” said Dr Felicitas Zawaira, Director of the Family and Reproductive Health Cluster at the WHO Regional Office.
“In recent years, we’ve rightly focused many of our energies on addressing hunger, but what we must recognize is that ending hunger does not guarantee improved nutrition”, she added. UNI
