An assessment of Ghana's Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Navigator shows that there is limited access to diagnosis, care, medication and tools for the management and control of NCDs in Ghana. The assessment which was done by PATH from 2020 to 2022 under its Transforming NCD Response project, aimed at reducing premature deaths and achieving the SDG goals. It was funded by Access Accelerator and supported by the Ghana Health Service to coordinate NCD response in Ghana's 16 regions. The NCD Navigator is a first-of-its-kind, locally managed, NCD digital information system which provides information on NCD programming and contributions on NCDs prevention and control in a country. Dr Patience Cofie, PATH Country Manager, said PATH and its partners created the NCD Navigator, a dynamic mapping tool for NCD programmes to guide resource allocation, strategy development and implementation, and stakeholder coordination. She was speaking at a National Stakeholder NCD Navigator Dissemination Meeting held in Accra. The meeting served as a platform to disseminate results from all 16 regions on NCD stakeholder landscape, focusing on activities being carried out along the continuum of care and priority areas of strategy implementation in Ghana. It also provided an opportunity for partners to identify potential actions for addressing gaps and inequalities around NCD interventions, including geographic coverage and sustainable ways to reduce the NCD burden in Ghana. Dr Cofie said the Navigator assessed how partners in NCDs used findings to plan and align resources to achieve equity. She said the Navigator provided information on NCD initiatives; the respective implementers, funders, and beneficiaries; the geographic distribution of these NCD initiatives within the country and alignment of these initiatives with the national strategy. 'Since national and sub-national prevalence data is overlaid with the NCD Navigator information, it has helped to establish a common understanding of gaps and opportunities to better meet the needs of people living with NCDs. Dr Cofie described the Navigator as a valuable system that could be utilized to support tracking of progress towards common goals and coordination in a country. In Ghana, the tool was used for partner coordination and resource allocation discussions alongside the launch of the Ghana NCD national strategy and policy in 2022. Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) according to the GHS, accounts for about 43 per cent of all deaths and over 50 per cent of all illnesses of people 40 years and above in Ghana. The GHS NCDs Programme says NCDs such as hypertension, diabetes and cancers are on the rise in Ghana largely due to changing lifestyles. Limited resources and the lack of data present significant challenges for stakeholders working in NCDs

Source: Ghana News Agency