THE Kingston Public Hospital’s (KPH’s) seventh annual clinical conference to be held this Sunday will focus on the impact of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at KPH and conference chairman Dr Hugh Wong said this year’s event seeks to raise awareness about the impact of these diseases.

“The Kingston Public Hospital being the largest multi-disciplinary and referral hospital on the island provides treatment and care for thousands of patients with Non-Communicable Diseases each day,” Dr Wong said, adding that, “The majority of the admissions we see at KPH are for patients with NCDs including, but not limited, to stroke, diabetic and hypertensive patients.”

Dr Wong noted that in 2013, over a six- month period, of the total number of patients who died at KPH, 37.9 per cent of the deaths were as a result of NCDs.

He further noted that, according to the Ministry of Health, NCDs are responsible for 56 per cent of all deaths in Jamaican, 20 per cent of which are caused by cancers.

“It costs the ministry $170 million annually to treat patients with NCDs,” he added.

Topics that will be covered include:

* Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Depression

* Heart Failure at KPH

* Stroke Care at KPH

* The epidemiology of Spine Disease

* Obesity in Surgical Patients

* Psychiatry at KPH