Arusha — ARUSHA : THE Partner States of the East African Community (EAC) have been called upon to adopt digital technologies including telemedicine, health apps, wearable devices and artificial intelligence to improve healthcare delivery and disease management.
Professor Wallace Bulimo, the Deputy Director - Data and Statistics at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), said that digital technologies offer innovative solutions to improve healthcare access, especially in remote or under-served areas.
According to Professor Bulimo, the adoption of digital technologies was changing disease patterns with a shift in the disease burden globally.
"Over the years, there has been a shift from communicable diseases to non- communicable diseases as leading causes of death. We have seen the emergence of novel infectious diseases, like Covid-19, highlights the ongoing threat from infectious agents," said Prof Bulimo here recently.
He disclosed that statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) caused 17.9 million deaths in 2019, which equates to 32 per cent of all deaths worldwide.
He further noted that CVD mortality had also increased.
"Ageing populations, sedentary lives and bad diets have caused this trend. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 reports that CVDs cause 19 per cent of global deaths," said the don.
He further detailed that in 2019, 63 million persons aged between 20 and 79, had diabetes globally, adding that the number would reach 700 million by 2045.
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Global cancer cases are growing, with 19.3 million in 2020. By 2040, 28.4 million new cases are expected. The Global Cancer Observatory (GCO) reported over 10 million cancer deaths in 2020.
Rising death rates are caused by population expansion, ageing and carcinogen exposure.
On communicable diseases, Professor Bulimo insisted that TB remained a global health issue, adding that the disease was one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide, with 10 million new cases in 2019.
Similarly, he warned that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) might kill 10 million people and cost 100 trillion US dollars by 2050.
According to the data scientist, the global impact of AMR includes human health, agriculture, food security and increases hospital stays, treatment expenditures and mortality.
The WHO reported 770,085,713 cases and 6,956,173 fatalities as of August 30 this year while the Pandemic has stretched healthcare systems, affected economies, and fostered global preparedness and response.
