Copyright © 2022 by Author/s and Licensed by Veritas Publications Ltd., UK. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. European Journal of Environment and Public Health 2022, 6(1), em0108 e-ISSN: 2542-4904 https://www.ejeph.com Research Article Assessment of Factors Influencing Non-Communicable Diseases Literacy Levels in Vihiga County–A Qualitative Cross-Sectional Study Stephen Odhiambo Ogweno 1,2 * , Kevin Oduor 2 1 Medicine and Health, Faculty of Biology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 2 Health Projects, Stowelink Inc, Nairobi, KENYA *Corresponding Author: Stowelink@gmail.com Citation: Ogweno, S. O. and Oduor, K. (2022). Assessment of Factors Influencing Non-Communicable Diseases Literacy Levels in Vihiga County– A Qualitative Cross-Sectional Study. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 6(1), em0108. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/12021 ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received: 14 Jun. 2021 Accepted: 2 Apr. 2022 Background: Health outcomes are closely influenced by health literacy levels. In most cases, lower health literacy levels have been found to be related to higher prevalence and incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)–including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic respiratory diseases. Despite this wealth of knowledge on the relationship between literacy levels and NCDs, most previous studies have been on the incidence and the prevalence of NCDs. Aims: This study therefore sought to assess the factors influencing non-communicable diseases literacy levels, Vihiga County (Kenya). Methodology: The study used a qualitative cross-sectional study design to collect data through though questionnaires and interview guides administered through focused group discussions and key informant interviews. A sample size of 55 respondents was used in this study–mostly the IPAB project (Improving Priority and Budget Allocation to NCDs in Vihiga County) beneficiaries. The data collected from this study was coded using Microsoft excel version 25 and analyzed using statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS version 25) and inductive data analysis (IDA) for the qualitative data collected was analyzed through traditional significance test. Results: The study reported that community health programs and initiatives on NCDs, patient support groups, culture and misinformation influence NCD literacy levels. The study findings indicate that culture and misinformation, patient support groups, and community health programmes and initiatives are three key components that need to be considered when improving NCDs literacy levels. Conclusion: The study also concludes that IPAB project helped boost the resident’s knowledge and understanding of NCDs. The findings of this study offer critical insights to Vihiga County Government to tailor their NCDs advocacy programs to fit local context thereby enhancing the knowledge and understanding on NCDs. Keywords: non-communicable diseases, literacy, community health, culture, misinformation INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading killer disease in the world. In Kenya, NCDs account for more than 50% of all hospital admissions (RTI International, 2020). According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2015a), NCDs are well on their way to becoming the leading cause of deaths and suffering in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Kenya, and in many developing nations, chronic diseases have not been given much priority (Smit et al., 2019). As a result, there has been minimal attention given to NCDs care right from primary to tertiary care; yet they cause a huge health, financial, and social burden to the people living with these diseases and their families (Onyango & Onyango, 2018). It is a well-established fact that prevention is better than cure and this is especially true for non-communicable diseases whose major risk factors can be modified in order to reduce and even prevent individuals from developing these diseases (Sharma et al., 2017). In spite of the availability of information on NCDs, the discussion around this topic in Kenya has been marred with a lot of misinformation, myths and misconceptions. This has for a long time disoriented and retrogressively affected the work and effort by the health care sector to educate communities on non-communicable diseases (RTI International, 2020).