Date: 2012-05-02

A team of medical experts from North America have raised the alarm on imminent epidemic due to neglect of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, cancer, diabetes in sub-Sahara Africa, including Nigeria.

Speaking during a symposium, entitled: "Non-communicable diseases; an emerging epidemics in sub-Sahara Africa," in Ilorin on Tuesday, the leader of the medical professionals, under the aegis of the Kwara State Association of Nigerians in North America (KSANG), Professor Wale Sulaiman, said many people and governments had neglected non-communicable diseases for long, while paying attention to communicable diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and Human Immuno Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS).

"There is an emerging epidemic of non-communicable diseases in our society and with changes in our dietary system, it may increase over time. Hence, the need to sensitise our people to know about the menace," he said.

Professor Sulaiman, who said many lives had been lost to the preventable diseases, added that the Kwara State government had collaborated with the medical team on a week-long sensitisation programme on non-communicable diseases in rural and urban areas of the state, towards creating awareness on the diseases.

He also said the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the team to bring some of the medical expertise home, in order to improve health care delivery in the state and improve infrastructure.

Professor Sulaiman, who described the programme as futuristic, charged the government to sustain it to improve personal health and productivity in the state.