MP to Propose Vehicle Ban-Hon Nicholas Kamara

In an effort to fight non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Nicholas Kamara, the Member of Parliament for Kabale Municipality, has advised the Government to stop vehicles from reaching Kampala city, to allow people walk, saying it will enable them exercise.

He suggested that the Government levies taxes on vehicles that operate from the city to limit them and compel many people to walk instead.

“The Government should create parking yards in the outskirts of Kampala to accommodate vehicles, which will not be able to meet taxes to allow them operate in Kampala,” Kamara said.

He noted that the suggestion comes at the right time and to respond to an urgent need.

“In this, we shall be using one stone to kill two birds; first, we shall be minimising diseases, but also fighting congestion and jam in the city,” Kamara said.

He made the remarks at the workshop of Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders’ Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level, a local government association with a mandate of ensuring a healthy and productive urban population free from HIV AIDS and related NCDs.

The workshop was held on Wednesday, July 20, at Eureka Hotel in Ntinda-Kampala.

NCDs include heart attack, stroke, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, congenital heart disease, schizophrenia, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

NCDs are attracting concern as they pose new challenges to the ailing health sector that is plagued by diseases such COVID-19, malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, respiratory tract infections, and diarrheal diseases.

NCDs account for 41% or 41 in 100 deaths, according to a report presented by Dr. Charles Oyoo Akiya, the commissioner for NCDs in the Ministry of Health.

According to the report, the harmful use of alcohol and tobacco is a leading risk factor of preventive and treatable NCDs, such as mental disorders. The report further revealed that16% of men and 4% of women smoke dangerous drugs whereas 34% of men and 8% of women binged in the past month.