I.

Introduction

NCDs are the leading cause of death globally. In 2012, they caused 68% of all
deaths (38 million) up from 60% in 2000.80% of NCDs deaths occur in low-
and middle-income countries. About half were under age 70 and half were women. Risk
factors such as a person's background, lifestyle and environment
increase the likelihood of certain NCDs. Every year, at least 5 million people die
because of tobacco use and about 2.8
million die from being overweight. High cholesterol accounts for roughly 2.6
million deaths and 7.5 million die because
of high blood pressure.

II. Non-Communicable Disease

(bullet) A non-communicable disease (NCD) is a medical condition or disease
that is not caused by infectious agents
(non-infectious or non-transmissible). NCDs can refer to chronic diseases which
last for long periods of time and progress slowly.
Sometimes, NCDs result in rapid deaths such as seen in certain diseases such as
autoimmune diseases, heart diseases, stroke, cancers,
diabetes, chronic kidney disease, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's
disease, cataracts, and others. While sometimes
referred to as synonymous with "chronic diseases", NCDs are distinguished only by
their non-infectious cause, not
necessarily by their duration, though some chronic diseases of long duration may be
caused by infections. Chronic diseases
require chronic care management, as do all diseases that are slow to develop and of
long duration.

(bullet) Infectious diseases are now being rivaled, and soon will be
surpassed, by non-communicable diseases [1].
As a result, the United Nations have set a goal for 2025: to reduce non-
communicable diseases (NCD) by 25% [1-3]. To target
this burden there is a pressing need to address some of the most prevalent NCDs. As
discussed in more detail later, we have
selected 3 NCDs: high blood pressure (HBP), which is now recognized as �the silent
killer� (head 1=affects one billion
people worldwide); obesity (head 2=2.3 billion overweight adults in the world by
2015) and osteoporosis (head 3 = 200
million people worldwide). From the epidemiological point of view, obesity is
currently a major public health threat for the United States, given
that this country has the second highest obesity rates in the world [8]. Obesity
affects over onethird of the American
adults (approximately 167 million in 2012) [9]. Even worse estimates suggest that
without interventions by 2020, 75% of
Americans will be overweight or obese. The medical cost of obesity in the U.S. has
been estimated in $147 billion.
Being overweight or obese upsurges in-patient costs by 46%, and prescription-drugs
by 90%. The impressive and critical
impact of obesity in the next decade is hard to imagine but will likely lead to
staggering costs and a significant medical
burden to the US health budget, as approximately 213 million obese individuals will
need services for diseases associated
with obesity.
People from developing countries suffer the most: 90% of people who die
before the age of 60 are from middle and
low-income countries. The World Health Organization estimates that without
prevention, 52 million people will die because
of NCDs by 2030. As is the case in all developing countries, Uganda is experiencing
important changes in disease patterns.
Non-communicable diseases and their risk factors are now an emerging problem in
Uganda, although the focus has been
directed more towards infectious diseases.
In Uganda, the mandate of non-communicable disease prevention and control
programs which was established during the
2006/07 financial year is to reduce the morbidity and mortality attributable to
non-communicable diseases through
appropriate health interventions targeting the entire population of Uganda. Such
diseases include hypertension,
cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, mental illness, diabetes, cancers
conditions, injuries, chronic respiratory
diseases, as well as oral diseases. These have caused increasing morbidity and
mortality in the Ugandan population.
According to the Uganda National Household Survey Report from 2009/2010, these
diseases affect more females than males
and are more frequent in populations above the age of 45.
The prevalence of non-communicable diseases can be attributed to two factors,
the aging population and the increase
in unhealthy lifestyles. NCDs are predicted to increase over the years if nothing
is done to address them. Most of these
diseases develop gradually over time without the victim�s knowledge until symptoms
begin to manifest.

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