Organizing Young People Against Chronic Diseases
Experiences from the front lines in East Africa
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, are currently the leading cause of death globally. Unlike infectious diseases, NCDs are not transmissible from one person to another and include such conditions as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases. These diseases kill 40 million people per year, equivalent to 70% of all deaths annually, although they share modifiable risk factors such as unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, tobacco use, and physical inactivity.
Though previously thought to be diseases of the affluent, NCDs are currently affecting all countries with devastating socioeconomic consequences that disproportionately affect poor and vulnerable populations. Yet, health systems in developing countries have been designed to solely address infectious diseases.
In 2011, heads of state and government made a Political Declaration on NCDs with various commitments that are currently being implemented through the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013–2020. Member states have also agreed on a set of time-bound voluntary targets to be attained by 2025 and recognized that NCDs pose a major threat to sustainable development in this century. However, implementation of these commitments has been slow, making the attainment of global NCD targets difficult. Part of the reason why is that governments have not adequately supported the operations of the commitments or the implementation of proven effective interventions.
Through my involvement in the Young Professionals Chronic Disease Network (YP-CDN), I have increasingly appreciated that young people are a major source of valuable solutions to the NCD epidemic and can leverage the power of their numbers to hold governments accountable. My optimism towards the future of global health has been boosted after being on the frontlines with fellow young people advocating for increased attention to NCDs across the East African region. YP-CDN is building capacity and leadership by recruiting, training and supporting aspiring next generation advocates and policymakers across the region. The network currently has presence in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Burundi in Eastern Africa.
My optimism towards the future of global health has been boosted after being on the frontlines with fellow young people advocating for increased attention to NCDs across the East African region… I have experienced first-hand how powerful young people’s voices can be in influencing public policy and holding politicians accountable.
I have experienced first-hand how powerful young people’s voices can be in influencing public policy and holding politicians accountable. In October 2016, our Ugandan chapter of YP-CDN launched an online campaign to demand the government prioritize the construction of a bunker to accommodate a new cobalt chemotherapy machine. Thousands of cancer patients attending the Uganda Cancer Institute were left stranded and unable to access potentially life-saving treatment after the only radiotherapy machine in the country broke down beyond repair.
Our campaign was prompted by the government’s failure to deliver on its promise of finalizing the construction of a new bunker within six months from April 2016, and it succeeded in forcing the government to make further commitments in expediting the construction of the bunker. Currently, the bunker is ready to house a new machine and shipment of the Cobalt-60 radiation machine is underway according to government sources. This is only one of the many advocacy campaigns that we have done in Uganda and other East African countries where YP-CDN has presence.
Through influencing policy and holding leaders accountable, as well as mobilizing fellow young people to fight NCDs and their risk factors, one thing is clear for sure: young people can be champions of change in combating an eminent NCD epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.
We are hitting two birds with a single stone by bringing our leaders closer to the NCD reality and utilizing the power and energy of young people to turn the tides against NCD risk factor exposure. This has been evident in all our work because not only do YP-CDN members get equipped with advocacy and leadership skills from our annual workshops and trainings, but we also greatly benefit from acquiring adequate knowledge on NCDs and their risk factors. This knowledge is important in helping us resist the aggressiveness of industries, such as tobacco and beverage companies that try to persuade us to become their “customers” and increase our NCD risks. As much as unhealthy behaviors are difficult to change when they persist into adulthood, positive behaviors such as regular physical activity and healthy eating, once established during the early years of life, are easy to maintain into adulthood.
Organizations like YP-CDN need to be urgently supported to scale up their efforts in engaging young people on NCDs if we wish to achieve progress within a generation. Additionally, our leaders need to embrace affordable, feasible, cost effective, and impactful priority interventions that have been identified by the World Health Organization.
Marvin Lubega was a 2016–2017 Global Health Corps fellow at the Ministry of Health in Uganda.
