FCTA Set To Tackle Non-Communicable Diseases

By: Bola Ajao

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has concluded plans to launch an aggressive campaign aginast non-communicable diseases in the Federal Capital Territory, which has remained a silent killer among all stratas of the soociety. 

Accordingly, the FCTA will partner key stakeholders to stem the tide of non-communicable diseases with campaign designed to frontally confront such ailments like Hypertension and Diabetes.

The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe,who dropped this hint, said that the FCTA will organize a seven-day free screening for residents being part of the project.

Fasawe said that the Administration is targeting hypertension and diabetes after discovering that they are major silent killer diseases that must be dealt with, with its attendant consequences.

According to her, the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, expects FCT residents to take advantage of the opportunity to promote their physical well-being.

She disclosed that the exercise intends to reach out to over Two Hundred and Fifty people in the capital city and over 200 communities across the Territory.

Her words: “To effectively carryout the campaign, screenings will be carried out in hospitals, primary health centres, mosques, churches, motor parks and markets, while severe cases noticed by health workers will be referred to government hospitals,where medication will be provided at no cost to the patient.”

Fasawe revealed that the exercise is scheduled to take place from October 30 to November 6, 2024across the 8,000 square kilometers of the Federal Capital Territory.

The Mandate Secretary further disclosed that the FCT Administration is embarking on the programme with the support of the ‘Governor’s Forum’ and the Federal Ministry of Health, as well as the Committee of Health Commissioners.

She said that it’s a nationwide programme, encompassing a seven-day free screening for hypertension and diabetes being part of the “Project 10 Million” initiative, themed ‘Know Your Number, Control Your Number’.

Fasawe stated that the campaign intends to screen 10 million Nigerians for blood pressure and blood sugar levels to tackle non-communicable diseases, which often develop silently and can have fatal outcomes.