There are a number of fitness centres in The Gambia; some are owned and managed by young men within the community while majority are being managed by private organisations for commercial purposes. Government involvement in this area seems very limited; hence these available facilities are severely under pressure. Most of such centres that are privately owned are well equipped with trained personnel, and these tend to be elitist (exclusive use of the high income earners). Preliminary investigation by the author suggests that most of the young men and women who make use of the community-managed gymnasium and fitness centres do acknowledge the need to improve the facilities available, but this has been hampered by poor financial resources. The vast majority of young adults in The Gambia make use of the fitness centres for cosmetic purposes and to some extent, to keep fit. While they attempt to keep fit and have good body shape, they engage in other behavioural and social risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diet and to an extent, alcoholism. This underscores the need for appropriate health education (public health messages on risk factors prevention and management of chronic non-communicable diseases) through appropriate channel to the population.
There has been no empirical study done in The Gambia to evaluate the media involvement in chronic diseases prevention and management, however, experience (empirical observation) has shown that media involvement in chronic disease prevention and management has been negligible/non-existent, when compared to diseases targeted by Global Funds (TB, Malaria and HIV/AIDS). Other forms of health communication channels for chronic diseases risk factors are virtually non-existent in The Gambia and in most African countries. However, this is a sharp contrast to that of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. This is a reflection of the fact that public health agenda and implementations in many African countries and developing world in general, are mainly driven by funding and efforts from external sources. Most on-going public health messages are sponsored by donor fund/initiatives which are centred on communicable diseases (particularly, TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria and Vaccine Preventable Diseases). This calls for urgent responses or local initiatives to combat the growing and devastating epidemic of NCDs in Africa and the developing world.
Individual Level
The individual level of intervention focuses on the personal behavioural and lifestyle changes that are targeted at preventing the acquisition of the risk factors and also limiting or preventing complication for high risk individuals. This level of intervention also involves pharmacologic interventions that are capable of preventing the onset and or limiting/preventing the potential complications of NCDs. These strategies are at present delivered mainly through the health services which are grossly incapacitated by dearth or non-availability of health workforce and related resources. The level of awareness on the risk factors and management of NCDs seems poor, and public health professionals, private sector, civil society organisations and community groups have to be involved in creating awareness in the areas of prevention, and providing psycho-social support to high risk individuals.
There are a number of fitness centres in The Gambia; some are owned and managed by young men within the community while majority are being managed by private organisations for commercial purposes. Government involvement in this area seems very limited; hence these available facilities are severely under pressure. Most of such centres that are privately owned are well equipped with trained personnel, and these tend to be elitist (exclusive use of the high income earners). Preliminary investigation by the author suggests that most of the young men and women who make use of the community-managed gymnasium and fitness centres do acknowledge the need to improve the facilities available, but this has been hampered by poor financial resources. The vast majority of young adults in The Gambia make use of the fitness centres for cosmetic purposes and to some extent, to keep fit. While they attempt to keep fit and have good body shape, they engage in other behavioural and social risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diet and to an extent, alcoholism. This underscores the need for appropriate health education (public health messages on risk factors prevention and management of chronic non-communicable diseases) through appropriate channel to the population.
There has been no empirical study done in The Gambia to evaluate the media involvement in chronic diseases prevention and management, however, experience (empirical observation) has shown that media involvement in chronic disease prevention and management has been negligible/non-existent, when compared to diseases targeted by Global Funds (TB, Malaria and HIV/AIDS). Other forms of health communication channels for chronic diseases risk factors are virtually non-existent in The Gambia and in most African countries. However, this is a sharp contrast to that of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. This is a reflection of the fact that public health agenda and implementations in many African countries and developing world in general, are mainly driven by funding and efforts from external sources. Most on-going public health messages are sponsored by donor fund/initiatives which are centred on communicable diseases (particularly, TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria and Vaccine Preventable Diseases). This calls for urgent responses or local initiatives to combat the growing and devastating epidemic of NCDs in Africa and the developing world.
Individual Level
The individual level of intervention focuses on the personal behavioural and lifestyle changes that are targeted at preventing the acquisition of the risk factors and also limiting or preventing complication for high risk individuals. This level of intervention also involves pharmacologic interventions that are capable of preventing the onset and or limiting/preventing the potential complications of NCDs. These strategies are at present delivered mainly through the health services which are grossly incapacitated by dearth or non-availability of health workforce and related resources. The level of awareness on the risk factors and management of NCDs seems poor, and public health professionals, private sector, civil society organisations and community groups have to be involved in creating awareness in the areas of prevention, and providing psycho-social support to high risk individuals.
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