Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr. Daniel Sackey has organized a forum in collaboration with the NCD Alliance and other partners like the Ghana health service to create awareness on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with special attention to their prevention and treatment to mark Ecobank Day celebration.

Ecobank Day has been celebrated annually since 2013 on the first Saturday of October across all the bank’s 33 affiliated countries it operates; thus, the initiative allows the bank to participate in major Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to give back to society.

Mr. Daniel Sackey addressing the media at the forum from Ecobank Head Office on Saturday October 5, 2019, said that the Ecobank Day gives his staff the opportunity to volunteer their time to work with the local people and support the financial contributions made by the Bank to improve the lives of the vulnerable members of our communities.

According to the Managing Director of Ecobank, the focus for this year’s Ecobank Day celebration is to raise awareness of Non-Communicable Diseases especially breast cancer and also discuss various ways to prevent and mitigate their occurrence.

He revealed that for the next three years, starting from October 5, 2019, Ecobank is focusing its attention on reducing the effects of Non-Communicable Diseases and their consequent harmful impact on society.

“We are commencing the roll-out of the three-year plan under the theme, “Preventing NCDs in African Communities” with three sub-themes for each year”, he revealed.

He said that the Ecobank Ghana is organizing outreach programs across 5 market centers; Kaneshie-Accra, Ashaiman-Tema, Bantama-Kumasi, Market Circle-Takoradi and Tamale Market Center-Tamale under the key objective of creating awareness of NCDs on the sub-theme “Prevention and Health Promotion” with the key objective of creating awareness.

He reiterated that “our main objective in 2019 is to enhance the prevention, management, and control of NCDs among staff and stakeholders. The conversation will include the consequences of an inactiveness or sedentary lifestyle and other lifestyle choices that are detrimental to our health. Key among them are diabetes and breast cancer”.

In view of the objective of Ecobank Day, Mr. Daniel Sackey accordingly assembled relevant experts at the forum to speak to the issues from the professional perspective, dialoguing around the various NCDs that have plagued the nation and the continent.

“Ecobank is pleased to collaborate with the Ministry of Health, the NCD Alliance, and the World Health Organization on this project. We are also grateful to the Federation of Medical Students Association, who have kindly agreed to join Ecobank staff in distributing educational materials in our chosen market centers”, he stated.

He mentioned that the battle against Non-Communicable Diseases has started, calling all and sundry in the country to join their health walk to commemorate World Diabetes Day as part of the Ecobank’s planned activities till mid-November which is another milestone to be observed.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has revealed that Non-Communicable Diseases are responsible for over 30 percent of all reported adult deaths in most African countries; thus, this is a challenge given the adverse impact of such diseases on socio-economic development.