Chairperson of the Ghana Non-communicable Diseases Alliance has urged government to be more proactive in responding to the increasing incidences of incidents in the country.

Research has proven that approximately 41 million people die worldwide annually as a result of non-communicable diseases, leaving Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai perplexed.

The president of Breast Care International is at a loss as to “why we are still sitting and watching unconcerned”.

Common non-communicable diseases include most cancers, diabetes, hypertension and asthma many of which kill more than 94,000 people in Ghana annually.

It accounts for about 42 per cent of all deaths in the country.

This alarmingly high number of deaths is contributed to by the rapid rise in health care costs, making it less accessible to those in need.

“Most of the people who are dying from the non-communicable diseases are dying from the low and middle-income countries and we are in the centre and so how long should we sit?”

 “We can do something about it and I think it’s starting from the civil society organizations. We are a force to reckon with.”