We recently launched our “Movement to Fitness” program with a cross-section of participants from various organizations in the age range of 30 – 60. Fitness assessment conducted at the program onset revealed a set of conditions such as impaired fat levels, overweight, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, knee pain, back pain…. Each participant has been provided with a walking/running plan as per the fitness level and will undergo personal health and wellness coaching for adopting healthy lifestyle habits. They will undergo another fitness assessment after 3 months to evaluate the success of these interventions.
The results of this fitness assessment are a stark representation of rapidly increasing prevalence of NCDs amongst the Tanzanian workforce as a wake up call for urgent action. Healthy lifestyle is not complicated and can be adopted with targeted sensitization strategies coupled with interventions such as health risk assessment, health and wellness coaching and promoting employee wellbeing as part of corporate culture.
As per the Global Nutrition Report 2016, malnutrition is a condition that directly affects one in three people.
Every country is facing a serious health challenge from malnutrition. The economic consequences represent losses of 11 percent of GDP every year in Africa and Asia, where preventing malnutrition delivers $16 in returns on investment for every $1 spent.
Malnutrition means poor nutrition and is a serious condition that occurs when a person’s diet does not contain the right amount of nutrients – under-nutrition is when one doesn’t get enough nutrients and over-nutrition is when one gets more nutrients than needed and carries too much weight and/or has Type 2 Diabetes. According to the UN’s Standing Committee on Nutrition, malnutrition is the largest single contributor to disease in the world.
What we eat and our nutritional status can affect cardiovascular diseases, some types of cancer and diabetes. Foods, diet and nutritional status, including overweight and obesity, are also associated with elevated blood pressure and blood cholesterol, and resistance to the action of insulin. These conditions are not only risk factors for NCDs, but are major cause of illness amongst the economically productive age group.
According to a joint study by the World Economic Forum and Harvard University, NCDs will result in a cumulative output of $47 trillion USD over the next two decades, equivalent to 75% of the global GDP in 2010. This figure includes the financial burden estimated to be caused by cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and mental illness. It is the equivalent of an annual 4% lowering in GDP.
Dr Samuel Mwenda of the Christina Health Association of Kenya recently opined that “As we seek to eliminate AIDS by 2030, a new pandemic is on the rise in Kenya and around the world in both developed and developing countries – a pandemic of non communicable diseases like cardiovascular and respiratory disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. Tanzania is not far behind.
At a company level, NCDs lead to increased business expenditures on employee health care and coverage. They contribute to decreased workplace productivity, diminish the quantity and quality of the workforce and contribute to disability, requiring time away from the workplace, all of which comprise successful economic output. Workers may also be engaged as a caregiver for someone at home affected by an NCD, which decreases their capacity to fully engage as a member of the workforce. The health of the wider community within which a business operates is also of tremendous importance – with businesses acutely feeling the effects of a community in ill health.
Workplaces as a microcosm of society are an ideal space for promoting healthy lifestyles and overall wellbeing. According to one study, a “healthy” lifestyle in the US working-age population reduced healthcare costs by 49% in adults aged 40 and above. Smoke-free indoor worksites, tobacco cessation programs for employees and their families, access to healthy foods, encouraging physical activity, anti-alcohol programs and stress-reduction measures are critical elements of workplace wellness programs that contribute to overall health and wellbeing.
Companies can leverage their existing HIV/TB programs to address NCDs by expanding these programs to include basic primary care, such as blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar checks, education and awareness, and delivery of essential medications and technologies for NCDs.
It is time for companies to recognize that the lost cumulative output of an unhealthy workforce and community is ultimately detrimental to business