Household burden of chronic non-communicable disease in Ghana: rural – urban dichotomy

Henry A. Tagoe, University of Ghana

Economic improvement and rapid urbanization and the accompanied behavioural change have resulted in improved life expectancy in developing societies. The resultant socio-demographic, economic and epidemiological transition had resulted in a marked increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Global South. Using nationally representative survey (World Health Survey Ghana 2003) covering 3,808 households, this paper assess the burdens of chronic NCDs on the Ghanaian households as they manifest in rural and urban areas within a context of a paradigm shift in health policy in the country. Employing both distractive and analytical framework, the result argues that there is no statistically significant difference in direct burden but in indirect burden. Health policy reform with focus on NCDs would avert the high burden and the vicious cycle of poverty.