The Executive Director, Child Care and Adult Protection Initiative (CCAPI), Evelyn Oti, has harped on the need for the federal government and policy markers to increase tax on food items that may have a high risk of causing non-communicable diseases (NCD).
Oti in an interview recently explained that the cost implication in managing NCD can be very disturbing as this would usually greatly impact the family’s financial status, especially in a financially unstable economy where the cost of food items, medication etc. are quite high.
According to her, managing NCD by family members can affect the family economically, psychologically, emotionally etc.
She further explained that one of the outstanding effects can be related to one’s job and academic pursuit where a person could be relieved of his/her job due to the attention given to the person living with NCD.
“Secondly, due to financial demands, tuition fees may be diverted for medical bills. This can hinder one’s ability to continue his or her education.
“However, if such a person is able to acquire a better job in future or benefit from any form of scholarship or any benefits that may be made available to a caregiver or a family member taking up the responsibility of managing the health condition of another family member suffering from any NCD.
On how the diagnosis of NCD within a family impacts emotional well-being and mental health, she explained that it is time-consuming in attending to persons living with NCD: a family member who is diagnosed with NCD would normally require some form of support from other family members.
“These include attending medical appointments, prompts for medication at required intervals, providing psychosocial support etc.
“The above-listed requirements can be time-consuming for someone with other daily routines or responsibilities such as e.g., work, school, politics etc, and it can be worst for a nursing mother, or an only child who may be lacking support from other siblings or family members.
“This can in turn cause an emotional breakdown for such a person. The age of the person providing support to a patient diagnosed with a NCD can also be taken into consideration as this may have more effect on an elderly person which may lead to depression, breaking of traffic or other public laws.
“An example can be derived from the recent story trending in social media where a judge showed compassion to a 96years old man who was charged to court for breaking school zone drive limits because he was in a rush taking his 63-year-old son who is living with cancer for his routine medical appointment,” she said.
