By Godfrey Ombogo
Kigali, Rwanda: The first and third Sundays of the month is a car-free days in Kigali, Rwanda. No cars or motorcycles are allowed on the roads in the city center from 7 am to 10 am as part of efforts to make Kigali a green city and advocate for healthier living through exercising and getting frequent health checkups.
The first day of the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2023 was made to coincide with the car-free day on March 5, and thousands of delegates and stakeholders from around the world seized the opportunity to attend a ‘wogging event’, a new buzzword in the field of fitness that blends walking, running and jogging.
Amref Health Africa – which is co-hosting the conference with the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the African Union (AU), and the Rwandese government – says the ‘wogging’ event was aimed at supporting Kigali city’s quest to eliminate non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The event was launched by Amref Health Africa Group CEO Githinji Gitahi at 7 am on the dot, and the delegates and locals walked and jogged side by side with Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Nyiramongi Kagame, who graced the occasion.
Rwanda’s Minister of Health Sabin Nsanzimana said the car-free day is just one of the many other interventions his government has put in place to prevent NCDs.
He said the objective of the day is to create awareness that cities are not for vehicles, but for people to live a healthy life by enjoying exercise.
“We want to improve people’s lifestyle by encouraging them to exercise and go out and connect with the environment without the fear of being knocked down by speeding vehicles,” said Dr. Nsanzimana.
The minister said although they have not conducted a study to quantify the impact of the car-free day in terms of the reduction of NCDs or carbon emissions, it is clear more people are appreciating and enjoying the day, as they come out in large numbers to run and jog around the hills of Kigali city to keep fit.
As we walked through the 10km stretch that had been marked for the event, we met several groups of locals running together while singing solidarity songs.
Charles Rusanganwa, a member of one of the groups, said the car-free day is a great idea as it makes it easy to exercise in groups, which easily encourages others to join in.
“Even though there are walk-ways where one can exercise at any time, doing it in large groups is more fun and this draws in people who would not ordinarily take the initiative to run or jog on their own,” said Mr. Rusanganwa.
He said people look forward to the day and prepare for it, adding that most of the days are combined with other activities such as sports events or a cleanup drive, among many others.
Dr. Gitahi said the burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in Africa remains high, adding that the continent holds nearly 40 percent of the global neglected tropical disease burden, 95 percent of all malaria cases, and 36 percent of TB deaths worldwide.
“Non-communicable diseases, in recent years, have accounted for a growing share of mortality in the region of over 50% for adults in some countries,” he said.
By 2030, he added, deaths from NCDs are expected to exceed communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional deaths combined. Diabetes alone is expected to rise by 129 percent to 55 million people across Africa by 2045.
According to the 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) Noncommunicable Disease Progress Monitor, NCDs such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes are increasingly becoming the main cause of mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, where the diseases were responsible for 37 percent of deaths in 2019, rising from 24 percent in 2000.
This is largely due to weaknesses in the implementation of critical control measures, including prevention, diagnosis, and care, says the report.
It further shows that between 50 and 88 percent of deaths in seven countries in Africa, mostly small island nations, are due to NCDs, while in seven other countries – the majority of them being the continent’s most populous – the diseases claim between 100,000 and 450,000 lives annually.
As he welcomed delegates, stakeholders, and guests for the conference in the first plenary on Monday, March 6, Dr. Gitahi invited the rest of the African cities to also introduce car-free days and wogging to make the continent healthier and greener.
“Zanzibar has already said they will hold their first wogging event in August. Let’s all come out and attend the event, and I encourage other countries to take up this noble initiative,” he said.
In a pre-conference media briefing after wogging, Africa CDC Acting Director Ahmed Ogwell Ouma said Africa’s health agenda needs to be set by Africans, not “outsiders who think they know the continent more than we do”.
“Africa is underrated. We have what it takes to lead the world on many fronts, including health. All we need to do is build health systems that speak to each other within the continent and standardize our operations and practices,” said Dr. Ouma.
Dr. Nsanzimana emphasized the need to support countries to reinforce their health systems to adapt, be more resilient, and better cope with climate-linked emergencies.
“Speed matters in controlling disease outbreaks together with the four key elements that are paramount; health, science, leadership, community, and communication. We as humans disrupt this harmony. The sooner we stop an outbreak to become a pandemic, the better,” he said.
The biennial conference is running from March 5 to March 8, 2023, under the theme, “Resilient Health Systems for Africa: Re-envisioning the Future Now,”. The conference seeks to provide a platform for Africa to bring global attention to the nexus between climate change and health as the world inches closer to the 2030 Global Goals deadline.
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