The ministry of Health in partnership with World Diabetes Foundation has launched a fight against diabetes and high blood pressure in the country.

Speaking during a press conference on Thursday at the Health Promotion office in Kotu, the programme officer for non-communicable disease at World Health Organization Gambia office, Momodou Gassama, said that it is not a mistake that the ministry of Health is partnering with World Diabetes Foundation to fight against diabetes and high blood pressure.

He described non-communicable diseases as  ‘killers’ saying it is a cause for concern to the country to take urgent measures to ensuring that the diseases are put to a halt.

“Non-communicable diseases are the biggest killers this means it is a call for action and that’s why it is not by mistake that the ministry of Health is partnering with World Diabetes Foundation to tackle two of those critical killers which are diabetes and hypertension,” he said.

He added that “about 57 million people die every year due to non-communicable diseases.”

Mr Gassama also urged caution about the disease and for people to “take it seriously because it is a killer.”

He said that the report of the World Health Organization that about 5,300 people in the Gambia die of non-communicable diseases in 2016.

Meanwhile, for Omar Badjie, programme manager for non-communicable disease described non-communicable diseases as deadly disease that “needs to be looked at with seriousness”.

Mr Badjie urged for change of attitude towards the type of food and drinks people consume adding that alcohol and cigarettes immensely contribute to non-communicable diseases across the world.

He urged people to venture into physical exercise such as walking long distances and avoid eating foods that could be detrimental to their health.

The main non-communicable diseases include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancers diseases and the death toll across the globe is on the rise every year.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba