ABSTRACTSub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is challenged with morbidity and mortality from diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Effective interventions to prevent and control the incidence of mortality become very critical. Therefore, implementation of the WHO recommended “best buys” interventions for unhealthy diets is very imperative to tackle diet-related NCD morbidity and mortality in …
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ABSTRACTSub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is challenged with morbidity and mortality from diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Effective interventions to prevent and control the incidence of mortality become very critical. Therefore, implementation of the WHO recommended “best buys” interventions for unhealthy diets is very imperative to tackle diet-related NCD morbidity and mortality in SSA. This study was undertaken to map evidence on the extent of adoption and implementation of the recommended WHO “best buys” interventions in SSA.A systematic scoping review was conducted with PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library databases and searched relevant literature within SSA. Using the eligibility criteria as a guide, all eligible articles were exported to the Mendeley citation reference manager created for this study. Eligibility criteria included studies that presented evidence on the adoption and implementation of the WHO “best buys” interventions for unhealthy diet in SSA. We employed Population, Concept, and Context framework to define eligible studies from our primary research question. Two independent reviewers screened the articles for eligibility with the guide of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The themes from the included studies were structured around the following three domains: Effective interventions with cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) less than or equivalent to hundred United States Dollars per DALYs averted in LMICs; Effective interventions with CEA greater than hundred United States Dollars per DALYs averted in LMICs and other recommended interventions for the prevention and control of NCDs. In general, the study findings presented evidence on the extent of adoption and implementation of the WHO “best buys” interventions in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). The study further showed that few countries in SSA had evidence of the WHO “best buys” interventions. The following countries: South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Mauritius, were shown to have evidence of “best buys” as interventions to reduce the risk of NCDs due to unhealthy diet. Despite evidence of adoption and implementation of the “best buys” interventions found in a small segment of the study population, the adequacy, effectiveness, and likely equity impact of these responses to tackle unhealthy diets has been called into question. Therefore, critical mechanisms need to be adopted to ensure effective implementation of the “best buys” interventions necessary in SSA. Although the “best buys” interventions for unhealthy diets have been adopted and implemented in some parts of SSA, they were rated as poor and ineffective to achieve the desired results. Implementing the ‘best buys” and other recommended interventions have been proven to have huge health and economic returns, particularly in SSA. The study findings from most of the included studies indicated that governments’ desire to implement these policy measures has been hindered by the conflict between their quest for economic growth and the economic implications (e.g. job losses) of diet-related policies such as SSB tax. Therefore, there is a need for strategic action by SSA governments to shift the economic discourse, promote positive public opinion and forge links with other sectors to counter the entrenched for-profit, commercially driven, global economic incentives that are currently undermining policies for unhealthy food products.Keywords: Non-communicable diseases, “best buys”, unhealthy diet, prevention and control, Sub-Sahara Africa,
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