Mab Medicare Centre, a health delivery outfit has offered free health screening to about 1,000 people.

It has also registered about 150 children free of charge under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at Ablekuma in Accra.

Dr. Jacob Akuamoah-Boateng, Chief Executive Officer of Mab Group of Companies and Megavest Medical Centre told the Ghana News Agency that the purpose of the free screening was to bring health delivery to the doorsteps of the deprived.

It was also to create awareness about the increased rate of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, obesity, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary and chronic kidney.

Dr. Akuamoah-Boateng said non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 63% of deaths, adding that the total deaths of 2008 were 57 million out of which 36 million were as a result of non-communicable diseases.

He said historically non-communicable deaths were associated with the developed economies, but currently 80% of deaths in the developing and underdeveloped economies are due to non-communicable diseases and this meant the trend was shifting.**