A recent research has shown that 46 per cent of deaths in Botswana were due to Non-Communicable Diseases ( NCDs) Edwin Dikoloti, Botswana’s Minister of Health said, adding that chronic diseases remained a cause for concern.
However, the country had embarked on an aggressive campaign to educate its citizens and residents about NCDs and appropriate preventative measures, an official said on Wednesday .
The minister, giving the high burden on NCDs in the southern African country, said that health authorities in Botswana were now giving more attention than it had in order to combat the scourge of chronic diseases.
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According to Dikoloti, the most prevalent NCDs in Botswana include hypertension, heart diseases, type-two diabetes and several cancers.
He said that these diseases, as well as other NCDs, were mainly exacerbated by unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and harmful use of alcohol.
“Ninety-five per cent of Batswana (citizens of Botswana) are believed to eat unhealthy diets,“ he said.
It is against this backdrop that health authorities are advising the citizens and residents to take personal responsibility for their health by eating healthy diets and engaging in physical activity by walking 10,000 steps per day, amongst others.
