A recent survey concludes -Kenya’s new health care battle

PROFOH is in the process of incorporation in Kenya, therefore, that great country has become of high interest to our organization, a recent survey concluded that across the continent, concluded that Africa is finally overcoming the challenges of infectious diseases. But, a new battle is on the ground.

Today, Kenya is an AIDS success story. UNAIDS says Kenya is one of the countries showing the most remarkable progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections and expanding anti-retroviral therapy. Kenya has the second biggest AIDS treatment program in Africa (after South Africa) with over 900,000 people being treated. As more Kenyans have gotten AIDS treatment, life expectancy has started going up again, and if current trends continue, Kenya will return to its historic peak of 60 years in 2017, according to the World Bank, Of course, that’s good news. But it also means many Kenyans are now surviving AIDS and living long enough to contract non-communicable diseases. As we seek to eliminate AIDS by 2030, a new pandemic is on the rise in Kenya and around the world in both developed and developing countries – a pandemic of non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular and respiratory disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

These diseases, also called chronic diseases, used to be a problem mainly of rich countries, but no more. Annually, 28 million people die from non communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries like Kenya, representing nearly 75 percent of deaths from non communicable diseases globally Other reasons for the rise of these diseases in Kenya – in addition to greater life expectancy – are poor lifestyle choices such as too much fast food, not enough exercise and excessive alcohol and tobacco use.

Kenyans are adopting more sedentary lifestyles, leading to an increase in obesity and associated diseases like diabetes and cancer. Non-communicable diseases contribute to over 50 percent of inpatient admissions and 40 percent of hospital deaths in Kenya, a UN Task Force on non-communicable diseases found in 2014. It also found that 18 percent of Kenyan preschool children are obese.