Museveni concerned about increasing cases of non-communicable diseases

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has said that he is bothered by the increasing cases of non-communicable diseases in Uganda.

Speaking at State House Entebbe on Friday ahead of the World Population day, Museveni urged all leaders to strengthen community mobilization using local radio stations to educate the masses about these dangerous but preventable diseases.

“In Uganda, 891,000 people have high blood pressure, 534,000 people have heart disease and 229,000 people have diabetes. These diseases can be prevented if leaders give our people the right information and knowledge like on proper nutrition, physical exercise, avoiding stress,” Museveni said.

This year’s World Population day which is held under the theme “Leveraging Uganda’s Population Dynamics for a Resilient Future amidst COVID-19,” comes at a time when the country like the rest of the world is battling with the coronavirus pandemic.

However, according to Museveni, Uganda’s young population has been an asset in the fight against the virus. Uganda has a predominantly young population with those aged 0 – 14 years being 47.9% and those below 30 years being 78%.

“As Ugandans are aware, young people tend to withstand COVID-19 better than the more elderly population. In this regard, Uganda’s population age structure being predominantly young is working in our favour in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic,” Museveni said.

He added that his NRM government will continue to provide these young people with education, skills, jobs and health care so that they can be gainfully employed, save and invest to become the engine of economic growth.

“This is the demographic dividend, the economic benefits we can have out of our growing youthful population. For some time now, I have been stressing this point, that our youthful population is our greatest asset,” Museveni said.

World Population day is celebrated every year on July 11.

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