A leap to non-communicable diseases epidemic in Burundi: overall trends of the disproportionate burden

Abstract

AbstractIn developing countries, Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are increasing relentlessly. A recent review in East African Community countries showed that much need to be done to improve in prevention of risk factors, monitoring, surveillance, governance, and evaluation of health systems to tackle NCDs. In Burundi, there is no study which has been conducted to give an overview on status of NCDs and their risks factors. We conducted a review on estimations of some NCDs statistics and pooled the data of NCDs and associated risk factors, together with data available on cancer for Burundi. A descriptive analysis was performed, and statistical test was conducted to check distribution differences of the NCDs burden between male and female populations. We built linear model for diabetes and hypertension with same predictors (blood pressure, body-mass index, and cholesterol). Overall, data pooled in different studies showed that almost all the NCDs and associated risk factors have an increasing trend in Burundi among male and female populations. Adult men and women are at high risk of developing diabetes and hypertension. Although both female and male populations have an increasing trend of obesity, women, girls between 5 and 10 years, and adolescent girls are carrying the highest burden compared to their male counterpart with same age categories. The data showed that obesity has been sharply increasing among children and adolescents in the last two decades. Cancer is also increasing with a lot of new types being diagnosed. We conclude that, NCDs are of a lot of concerns in male and female populations in Burundi. The prevalence of obesity among younger children and adolescent is alarming. There is a need of actions to be done in order to be able to prevent and manage NCDs, but interventions targeting children, adolescents, and women should be put in place urgently.