AS the country braces for the Zika virus much emphasis has been placed on pregnant women and those looking to become pregnant, but people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) should also be extremely cautious.

In fact, many people with NCDs are at a higher risk of complications and severe symptoms from several illnesses, including the Zika virus.

This disclosure was made by Dr Sonia Copeland, director of health promotion and protection in the Ministry of Health, while speaking on behalf of Minister Horace Dalley at the launch of Heart Month and the 45th anniversary of the Heart Foundation of Jamaica on Tuesday.

Dr Copeland said NCD is a major problem, and although the ministry has been focusing on pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant, because of the possible link between Zika virus and babies being born with the birth defect microcephaly, the ministry is also concerned about people living with NCDs.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NCDs, also known as chronic diseases, are not passed from person to person and are of long duration and generally slow progression.

The four main types of non-communicable diseases, according to WHO, are cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and stroke; cancers; chronic respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma; and diabetes.

“This is why this year’s launch of Heart Month, celebrated in February, which is being observed under the theme ‘Obesity, a Weighty Matter’, comes at an opportune time when we need to further stress the importance of observing a healthy lifestyle,” Dr Copeland said to those gathered at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston. “Obesity, which is a major risk factor for the NCDs, is the number one health problem in Jamaica.”

Citing a recent World Bank Report titled ‘Non-Communicable Diseases in Jamaica: Moving from Prescription to Prevention’, Copeland said almost half of women in the 35 to 54 age group are obese, and that when overweight women are added to this group more than 80 per cent are overweight.

She also said that even among the younger 15 to 24 age group, almost 40 per cent of women were either overweight or obese compared to 22 per cent of men.

“In Jamaica, for the last three decades, NCDs have emerged as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. So the sustained public education and interventions with respect to NCDs is very important,” she insisted, adding that the risk factors for NCDs are quite prevalent among the Jamaican population.

Consultant cardiologist and new chairperson for the Heart Foundation of Jamaica, Dr Andrene Chung, said NCDs are placing a heavy burden on the Caribbean region and that it is escalating.

“In the Caribbean, five times as many people die from [a]non-communicable disease than from all other illnesses combined, and 10 times as many people die from non-communicable diseases than from HIV/AIDS,” she said, adding that in 2000, the four leading causes of death in the region were heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.

“And these conditions all have common underlying risk factors,” she explained. “They are unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity, obesity, excessive tobacco and alcohol use, and inadequate utilisation of preventive health services.”

Dr Chung told the Jamaica Observer that she would not describe obesity as reaching epidemic proportions in Jamaica, but insisted that it is a serious problem to which Jamaica needs to be paying attention.