The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and its partners will start implementing the 3rd phase of the National Phased Survey for Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) and their associated risk factors from the beginning of next October, in which the main stages of the survey will be completed.
At this stage, the survey participants, who participated in the first and second phases, are invited to visit their health centers to complete the required medical tests, which include blood analysis to determine glucose and fat, and urinalysis to test sodium and creatinine, where they are contacted by health centers to determine the appropriate appointment, MoPH said in a statement on Saturday.
Director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention Department at MoPH Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani called on participants to cooperate in completing this important survey, which provides comprehensive data on an expanded range of risk factors for the health of individuals, especially those causing non-communicable diseases, such as smoking, lack of physical activity, improper eating habits, weight gain, and high blood pressure.
"The survey also contributes to promoting sound decision-making and developing policies and strategies in the field of public health, which are based on scientific evidence. This will enable decision-makers to develop appropriate action plans to address the prevailing risk factors in society associated with chronic non-communicable diseases," he added.
For her part, Executive Director of the Operations Department at PHCC Dr. Samia Ahmed Al Abdullah said: "The survey participants will be called and texted by specialized teams of PHCC staff to set suitable appointments for them to go to health centers. She stressed the need for the survey participant to refrain from food and drinks for a period ranging between 10 and 12 hours before the date of the blood test."
Dr. Samia Al Abdullah added: "Conducting health surveys periodically provides many healthy benefits for individuals, including early detection of diseases, as regular health surveys contribute to the detection of diseases in their early stages, which increases the chance of treatment and limits the worsening of the health condition before it becomes more complicated and difficult to deal with. In addition to assessing general health, surveys allow for the assessment of an individual's overall health status, including measuring indicators such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, kidney and liver function, and blood sugar. This enables physicians to provide the necessary health care and provide advice, and guidance necessary to improve the overall health of individuals and society."
Health surveys also contribute to identifying health risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and unhealthy lifestyle, and providing the necessary support for participants to take preventive measures to reduce these risks, in addition to improving health awareness, as they increase individuals' awareness of their health status and encourage them to make better health decisions and take better care of themselves.
Dr. Samia Al-Abdullah added that health surveys also contribute to guiding treatment, if any health problem is discovered during the health survey, doctors can direct treatment quickly and effectively, which reduces the risk of complications and health deterioration, in addition to saving health care costs, through early detection and prevention, the costs of treatment for advanced diseases and sustainable treatment of them can be avoided.
The National Phased Survey was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is implemented in collaboration between MoPH, Planning and Statistics Authority PSA, PHCC and Hamad Medical Corporations HMC.
It is noteworthy that in the first and second phases of the survey, information was collected on the main risk factors for chronic diseases, and biometrics were conducted for the participants, by visiting the homes of the families participating in the survey, after selecting a random sample from the lists of households based on the general population census for 2020. This survey is the second of its kind in Qatar after the survey carried out in 2012.