Less than half of the of governments on the continent have included tobacco cessation services in their COVID-19 response plans.
This is according to an assessment done by the World Health Organisation. The global health body carried out the assessment on the back of their regular assessments of countries’ capacity to collate comprehensive information about the countries in which disruption of NCD related services has occurred. They also wanted to understand the extent of the disruptions and the factors associated to those disruptions.
This would help them understand how countries need to be supported during the response to COVID-19and help them to plan how to build back better health systems with integrated NCD services after the pandemic.
What they found was that two-thirds of countries ensured that the continuity of NCD services was included in the list of essential health services in their national COVID-19 response plan. But low and lower to middle-income countries were less likely to include NCDs in their plans.
Of the 107 countries that included NCDs, over 90% included cardiovascular disease services, cancer services and diabetes services. Most of these countries also included services for chronic respiratory diseases and chronic kidney disease. But tobacco cessation services were only reported to be included in 44 of the 107 plans (41%). According to the survey, less than 50% of countries in Africa have included tobacco cessation services.
Tobacco cessation services were not widely included globally but they were far more likely to be included by countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia regions (67% of countries reporting the inclusion of NCDs in their COVID-19 plans in each region).
The findings of the assessment are concerning given that a collection of studies have shown that smokers who contract COVID-19 are more likely to suffer more severe symptoms and could even die.
Studies have also shown that people who suffer from co-morbidities such as diabetes, cancers and lung diseases are also likely to be adversely affected by the virus and are at increased risk of becoming severely ill.
Tobacco use is one of the four main risk factors for people to develop non- communicable diseases. According to the WHO report, noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, are the leading causes of death and disability globally. They affect more people each year than all other causes combined. NCDs are responsible for over 70% of all deaths, with nearly 80% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries With the population ageing, rise in multimorbidity, longer life expectancies and increasing survival rates, more and more people are expected to live with the health burden of NCDs.
As a result of the concern, governments have been encouraging smokers to quit their habit as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages across the world. Two countries have stood out with their initiatives. South Africa and Botswana became the first two countries to ban the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products when they introduced economic lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus.
More recently the region of Galicia in Spain also banned smoking in public placed over concerns that it increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The Canary Islands took a leaf out of Spain’s book and did the same.
This is according to an assessment done by the World Health Organisation. The global health body carried out the assessment on the back of their regular assessments of countries’ capacity to collate comprehensive information about the countries in which disruption of NCD related services has occurred. They also wanted to understand the extent of the disruptions and the factors associated to those disruptions.
This would help them understand how countries need to be supported during the response to COVID-19and help them to plan how to build back better health systems with integrated NCD services after the pandemic.
What they found was that two-thirds of countries ensured that the continuity of NCD services was included in the list of essential health services in their national COVID-19 response plan. But low and lower to middle-income countries were less likely to include NCDs in their plans.
Of the 107 countries that included NCDs, over 90% included cardiovascular disease services, cancer services and diabetes services. Most of these countries also included services for chronic respiratory diseases and chronic kidney disease. But tobacco cessation services were only reported to be included in 44 of the 107 plans (41%). According to the survey, less than 50% of countries in Africa have included tobacco cessation services.
Tobacco cessation services were not widely included globally but they were far more likely to be included by countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia regions (67% of countries reporting the inclusion of NCDs in their COVID-19 plans in each region).
The findings of the assessment are concerning given that a collection of studies have shown that smokers who contract COVID-19 are more likely to suffer more severe symptoms and could even die.
Studies have also shown that people who suffer from co-morbidities such as diabetes, cancers and lung diseases are also likely to be adversely affected by the virus and are at increased risk of becoming severely ill.
Tobacco use is one of the four main risk factors for people to develop non- communicable diseases. According to the WHO report, noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, are the leading causes of death and disability globally. They affect more people each year than all other causes combined. NCDs are responsible for over 70% of all deaths, with nearly 80% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries With the population ageing, rise in multimorbidity, longer life expectancies and increasing survival rates, more and more people are expected to live with the health burden of NCDs.
As a result of the concern, governments have been encouraging smokers to quit their habit as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages across the world. Two countries have stood out with their initiatives. South Africa and Botswana became the first two countries to ban the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products when they introduced economic lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus.
More recently the region of Galicia in Spain also banned smoking in public placed over concerns that it increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The Canary Islands took a leaf out of Spain’s book and did the same.