Lifestyle diseases soar

PAPUA New Guinea’s trend of primary lifestyle-related diseases of diabetes, hypertension and cancers as recorded in the hospitals are increasing since 1990, technical adviser for lifestyle disease Dr Thomas Vinit highlighted in a recent study.
“The fatal complications of these lifestyle diseases of coronary heart diseases and deaths, strokes and kidney failures have also increased since 1990 and are the end results of lifestyles,” he said.
The study was done to identify and measure the lifestyle health risk factors of four different populations depending on their socio-economic status living within and near the fringes of Port Moresby.
It noted that 27% of government workers smoked tobacco, 62% chewed betelnut and 52% drank alcohol compared with the private sector’s 20% who smoked, 60% who chewed betelnut and 52% who were alcohol consumers.
He noted that the urban poor tended to smoke more with 43% and 72% of them chewed betelnut and 40% drank alcohol while the neighbouring villages had high percentage of betelnut chewing with 86%, 36% smoked tobacco and 40% drank alcohol.
The study noted that more than 50% of all the above classes craved for high fatty, salty and sugary diets and drinks.
“These unhealthy habits, over time, will lead to oral, lung and liver cancers.
“The results are alarming and it calls for our government and civil society to take action to prevent them given the lack of quality tertiary health services to manage these complications,” Vinit said.
His call  was timely as PNG joins the rest of the world to commemorate the World Diabetes Day (WDD) on Sunday.