Health experts request the national strategy to combat the growing crisis of the NCD

Non-transmissible diseases (NCD) have become a health emergency in Bangladesh, requiring a national strategy focused on prevention, early detection and integrated risk management.

This was the main takeover of a multiple -degree debate, which took place today (March 17), organized by the Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC) and the Universal Health Health (UHC) forum with UNICEF support.

NCDs, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases, are now 70% of annual deaths and is increasingly affecting young people and children. The health experts at the event have emphasized the need to integrate NCD management into primary health care by promoting healthier lifestyles, ensuring early detection and strengthening risk management.

Dr. Ma Faiz, the former general manager of the General Directorate of Health Services (DGHS), said: “We cannot reduce heart attacks without correctly controlling hypertension and diabetes. Consumption 3 to 4 times more salt than they should. These are simple problems, but we have not been able to increase awareness about them.”

The introduction of NCD corners into UPazila health complexes has been discussed as a positive stage, although the challenges remain due to lack of drugs and lack of awareness.

Dr. Syed Zakir Hossain from DGH also emphasized the importance of promoting healthy habits, saying that “we can help people with prior diabetes by promoting healthy habits and lifestyle changes.”

Dr. Aliya Naheed from ICDDR, B stressed the importance of early intervention. “We should start preventing efforts in schools, so that students learn to make healthier choices for lifestyle,” she said.

Dr. Imran Ahmed Chowdhury from Brac has called for improved government coordination. “The creation of a consortium and a NCD forum will bring together all interested parties under a single platform, ensuring a more organized and efficient approach,” he said.

Dr. Amen Hasan emphasized the importance of collaborating with the private sector. “We need a better collaboration to get a complete image of the situation,” he said.

Other recommendations of health experts have included the change of medical assistance tasks to community health workers, applying stricter rules on unhealthy food advertising and developing financial models to make more accessible medicines.

In his closing observations, the executive president of the PPRC and the convener of the UHC Forum, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, who presided over and moderated the event, stressed the importance of a unified and systemic solution.

“Behavioral change comes from continuous awareness efforts, not from fear -based messenger. A social campaign at national level, such as the oral saline initiative, is crucial for the involvement of communities and creating lasting changes,” he said.

He also emphasized the role of the powerful pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh in ensuring a constant offer of essential drugs. “A well-planned, multi-sector approach is essential to approach the increasing burden of the NCDs effectively,” he concluded.