Doha: Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari and Head of the Planning and Statistics Authority H E Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al-Nabet signed an agreement to conduct the second National STEPwise Survey for chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) risk factors.
The parties agree to conduct the survey on 8000 Qatari and non-Qatari families; develop the action plans required to conduct the survey; and form a team of experts to study the best survey methods, prepare progress reports, and identify challenges, if found.
The survey is the second cycle of STEPwise surveys and a follow up for the 2012 survey, which is conducted in collaboration with the World Health organization, aims to provide a database on chronic non-communicable diseases and risk factors of non-communicable diseases in the state of Qatar, such as tobacco use, lack of physical activity, unhealthy nutrition, obesity, hypertension, increased blood glucose and increased blood fat, to be able to develop action plans under the national health strategy for control of these diseases and their risk factors.
H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari stressed the importance of preventing and combating NCDs through effective measures starting with collecting the population data with the involvement of major stakeholders such as PSA. This would strengthen the NCDs monitoring systems and help in implementation, monitoring and evaluation of population-wide interventions and NCDs programs at all healthcare levels. This would also pave the way for achieving Health strategies and Qatar National Vision 2030.
For his part, H E Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al-Nabet said that this cooperation between two the entities highlights the importance of inter-sectoral collaborative approach towards improving health indicators of the nation.
