NCDs lives matter: election 2019

Grand corruption, slow transformation and poor governance dominates the election rhetoric. A health system that fails the people does not feature often. If health gets on the agenda what dominates is back slapping about the 5 million people on HIV treatment, not the failed TB campaigns. It about National Health Insurance for a failed system and getting more trained workers in the health system. The people who use the public health system don’t feature much.

What kills most South Africans?

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), not infections or communicable diseases. So for the millions of us living with NCDs, we feel abandoned, betrayed and desperate.  No hope.

It is time to fight back against the callous disregard of our lives. NCDs are hundreds of related conditions like diabetes, cancer, asthma, heart disease and strokes, mental health conditions, epilepsy and many more. A handful cause about 80% of deaths.

NCDs touch your life every day. Chances are you have an NCD someone you love. It is likely that NCDs will have killed a person in your family or a friend. Many more at risk due to our social circumstances: what we do, where we live and if we are rich or poor. The social determinants of health

Government policy and funding

Government has to be treated as a proxy for the governing party, the African Nationa Congress. It states in government policy and political party manifesto that HIV/AIDS is it priority and the complicated and failed National Health Insurance system that is off track and very messy.
Government / political party is deaf to pleas by the people and the NCDs organisations that represent them. The most cynical response happened in February.

NCDs funding was by 48% for this financial year. No other line item was treated to that unkind cut. The NGOs that support NCDs awareness, education and care in South Africa get only 1.5% of the spend. The funding ratio is pretty consistent 99:1 communicable diseases: NCDs. This is not a competition with those that live with HIV, it is about a grossly uncaring health system that is blind to the real needs of people.

I live with 16 plus NCDs, some since birth.  These illness have lead to multiple near-death experiences. These disease are not due to my “lifestyle” and in my case, most could not be prevented.  For half of each year I have private health insurance when I have money, and for the rest of the year is very scary.

So what happens in the public health sector matter to me and millions of my compatriots. Unlike the politicians, civil servants the poor and vulnerable have no place of care in this health system.

This blog is my response to deep frustration with politicians and government officials that don’t listen to us. Join me. Make them listen like the did for AIDS. Do it again. For all of us.
My time is limited so this is my last election battle.
I have never joined a political party and I never will.

MY SOUL HAS A HAT

MY SOUL HAS A HAT

 

I counted my years

& realized that I have

Less time to live by,

Than I have lived so far.

 

I feel like a child who won a pack of candies (more…)

#EnoughNCDs campaign targeting the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs 2018

In September 2018 the United Nations High-Level Meeting  on NCDs (UN HLM NCDs) takes place. People around the world are joining together to say: “We have had #EnoughNCDs and action is needed. Now!”

The SANCDA joins the global campaign convened by NCD Alliance together with our global network of people and organizations. We demand that our government prioritize NCDs as they have promised to do since 2011. So we are calling for governments to act going into the UN HLM NCDs.
This is what we are asking for as South Africans:

1. Put people first – you and me who live every day with NCDs.
2. Boost NCD investment so that empty promises stop and there is NCDs action.
3. Step up action on childhood obesity but don’t forget to beat childhood malnutrition in all of its forms.
4. Adopt smart fiscal policies that promote health and then put some money into NCDs prevention and treatment.
5. Save lives through equitable access to NCDs treatment through universal health coverage (NHI).
6. Improve government accountability to the people for progress, results and resources.

Please join us! You can show your support  for the cause by championing a leader or personality who will support the fight against NCDs. Please contact us with your ideas and suggestions. We would love to hear from you. requests. For further information please checkin the  back with the SANCDA  for more on the movement and campaign as it progresses.

 

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NCDs group top cause of death in S Africa – Time for action

NCDs group top cause of death in S Africa – Time for action

NCDs accounted for 57.4% of deaths in 2016 while communicable diseases were responsible for 31,3% of deaths. According to StatisticsSA this confirms that South Africa is in the midst of epidemiological change.

The annual Statistics SA cause of death report for 2016 provides the most recent information on levels, trends and patterns in mortality by socio-demographic and geographic characteristics. Information on deaths from 1997 to 2016 are added for context.
Click here to download the full PDF report

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Our Views, our Voices – Rafael’s Story From Mexico – Weekly Highlight

 

 

Rafael’s meaningful involvement in the fight against addictions cost him his job at the Mexico City Secretariat of Health, but opened a new, more fulfilling path. His 12 years living with emphysema, which resulted from 30 years of smoking, have brought many physical challenges. But Rafa’s determination to blow the whistle on the true culprits of unhealthy diets and smoking, has never been stronger. He dedicates his life to campaigning against tobacco corporations and junk food manufacturers, and for the greater good of his family, community and everyone he meets.

Our Views Our Voices is an initiative of People Living with NCDs and the NCD Alliance. Find out more: https://ncdalliance.org/what-we-do/ca…