About 35 per cent of the total population are living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country. And with the overwhelming effort diverted towards controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a risk of compromising services to people living with NCDs.
Hence, the World Health Organisation (WHO) provided two sets of NCDs kit worth Nu 3.5 M to the Health Ministry today.
Dr Rui Paulo de Jesus, the WHO Representative to Bhutan, said “Today we handed over, what we call NCDs Kit which consists of medical diagnostics, medical equipment and also medicines or drugs for those suffering from NCDs including diseases like hypertension and diabetes to mention a few. This kit will be able to meet the health needs of 10,000 patients for 3 months. So we have 2 kits and we can cover 20,000 patients for 3 months.”
The request made by the Health Ministry is also to be able to respond in case of emergencies when medical facilities and regular supply is disrupted.
Dr Ugen Dophu, the Secretary for Health Ministry, said “Apart from COVID-19, other NCDs are severe in the country. As you know, there are many patients visiting the hospital, especially during the monsoon season. We have requested the WHO to provide us with the medical essentials and we got it all the way from Malaysia. We are going to distribute to all the districts and I hope it will benefit the people.”
Non-communicable diseases are diseases that are not contagious such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney diseases and cataracts. About 35 per cent of the Bhutanese are living with the disease. According to the Health Ministry, the prevalence of NCDs patients has not decreased compared to the past.
Apart from the NCDs kit, the WHO has also provided financial support of over Nu 32 M to enhance prevention measures to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and to develop laboratory diagnosis and infection prevention control. With such support, the Ministry hopes that the people of Bhutan will reap the maximum benefit out of it.
Tshering Dendup
