WHO-Sponsored Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Health Promotion Model Village

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), namely cancers, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are chronic, costly but largely preventable diseases. These four diseases share common modifiable risk factors and are a major cause of poverty, a barrier to economic development, and a serious threat to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2009, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the global NCD epidemic as a “public health emergency in slow motion”.

LAMB recognizes the need to broaden activities to address the demographic transition with lengthened life span of increasing incidence of NCDs amongst the neglected rural poor.   Health promotion activities must expand to include risks and prevention of NCDs, as a feasible approach to combat the impending epidemic. Such action is in very early stages in Bangladesh, but can have big implications for the future.  At LAMB Hospital we increasingly are seeing diabetic mothers, who because of in utero and newborn malnutrition, made no fat tissue—so as adults when their diets change they have no fat to store the calories and all the sugar molecules stay dangerously in the blood stream.

Changing some behavior (smoking, intake of unhealthy diet, exercise etc.) can reduce large burden of diseases like heart diseases, diabetes, cancer etc. Anthropologically, a village is the functional unit of lifestyle and social structure in Bangladesh. Collectively the health promotion activities target the village as a whole. Based on the experience of the model village initiative, replication in other parts of the country can be done.  Such a model village is being developed in Ramnathpur of Badargang Upazilla, Rangpur District. As a feasible and proven model for such action is developed, we hope lessons learned here will be part of replication all over the country.