By Contributor
KIRINYAGA, Kenya, Aug 3- The Kirinyaga County government has rolled out interventions to help control the increase of lifestyle diseases in the county.
This is in the wake of disturbing statistics that ranked the county as having the highest prevalence of diabetes and hypertension.
Governor Anne Waiguru says according to the statistics by the health department, the County has the highest number of people suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney ailments.
She termed the trend as worrying, saying it must be reversed.
Statistics from the Kirinyaga health department indicates that cases of diabetes have been on a steady rise in Kirinyaga since 2016 with the number of those suffering from the disease hitting 7,943 in 2020.
In 2016, the county recorded 2,345 and some 2,285 in year 2017.
In 2018, authorities said there were 2,811 cases of diabetes in Kirinyaga while 5,257 in 2019.
Cases of hypertension rose to 22,973 in 2020 up from 17,079 in 2019. Some 11,712 cases were recorded in 2018 while 7,482 were reported in 2017.
In 2016, the County had 9,276 cases of the non-communicable disease among the residents.
Governor Waiguru says the interventions include; health education, roll out of medical checks and clinics for the diseases in all medical facilities across the county and encouraging healthy eating.
Through health education, residents are being encouraged to reduce the major modifiable risk factors such as unhealthy diets, tobacco use, and harmful use of alcohol. They are also being encouraged to engage in more physical activities.
“One of the causes in rise of the lifestyle diseases in our area is because we are taking a lot of starch. We are encouraging our people to change diet by reducing consumption of red meat, foods with lots of cholesterol and engage in more body exercises like walking,” she says.
She says increase in cases of the lifestyle diseases has also seen demand for medicine to treat diabetes, hypertension and kidney ailments rise to unprecedented levels.
Waiguru says that her administration, through the Wezesha Kirinyaga Economic Empowerment Program, is encouraging consumption of white meat by funding more farmers to get into fish and poultry farming.
“The county government is supporting fish farmers to increase production as a way of creating alternative livelihoods and improved nutritional status in the county,” she says.
The governor pointed out that development of walk-ways at Kerugoya town and carbro-paving of towns like Kutus, Kagio, Kianyaga will encourage people to walk for long distance so as to burn cholesterol.
The County Director of Public Health and Sanitation Dr George Karoki says that daily clinics for the diseases have been rolled out at Kianyaga, Kimbimbi, Mwea and Sagana hospitals in addition to Kerugoya County Referral Hospital where they have been ongoing.
“Only level four and five hospitals were handling the diseases but now health centres and dispensaries have been roped in. We are doing check-ups for all patients visiting our facilities before they get to see the doctor. Clinics for those who already have the diseases have started across the county,” he says.
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