A World Health Organisation (WHO) mission consisting of members from WHO-EMRO office and WHO-HQ visited Qatar to provide overall guidance on planning and implementation of a STEPwise survey, finalisation of data collection tools and also to train Master trainers.
The Ministry of Public Health is gearing up for implementation of the National STEPwise survey for chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and risk factors of non-communicable diseases.
The STEPS is a standardised survey developed by WHO and carried out in collaboration with the Planning & Statistics Authority (PSA) in co-operation with the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
Technical support for implementation of STEPS is provided by WHO headquarters, regional and country offices, including STEPS training workshops delivered at different stages of the surveillance process: planning and training, data collection, data analysis, and reporting, as well as data utilisation.
The survey in Qatar is the second cycle of STEPwise surveys, as a follow up for the 2012 survey, to provide a database on chronic non-communicable diseases and risk factors such as tobacco use, lack of physical activity, unhealthy nutrition, obesity, hypertension, increased blood glucose and increased blood fat.
The survey will be carried out by visiting more than 8,500 homes of Qatari nationals and non-Qatari residents after a random sample is selected from household lists, based on population census, 2020.
The participants of the survey will be in age group between 15 and 69 years.
Dr Kholoud Ateeq al-Motawaa, head of NCD department at MoPH and National Team lead for the STEPwise survey said the initiative is important because it highlights the health needs related to NCDs in the country.
The results of the survey will be used to assist the Ministry of Public Health develop public health programmes that target efforts to lower the risk factors that lead to NCDs.
In a meeting with WHO mission, Nasser Saleh al-Mahdi, Director of Department of Censuses, Surveys, and Statistical Methods, PSA, pointed out the importance of co-operation between different government institutions in the fields of health research.
Nasser added that the provision of updated and statistically accurate data for NCDs and its risk factors is a national task, the findings of which will help in developing health services to the community. The provision of comprehensive data on the diseases and the risk factors associated with them will help cut rates of non-communicable diseases and deaths in Qatar.
Dr Heba Fouad, Regional Surveillance Officer, Department of UHC/Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, World Health Organisation, drew attention to the increasing rates of morbidity and mortality due to NCDs and their associated risk factors globally and in Qatar.
During meetings with MoPH and PSA, she stated that active involvement of all sectors and an integrated governmental approach is the key to success for this survey.
The WHO mission also stressed that implementing STEPwise survey in line with the validated protocol and data collection tools is an integral part that ensures quality of data collected and also global comparison of country data with other countries.
The Ministry of Public Health is gearing up for implementation of the National STEPwise survey for chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and risk factors of non-communicable diseases.
The STEPS is a standardised survey developed by WHO and carried out in collaboration with the Planning & Statistics Authority (PSA) in co-operation with the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
Dr Kholoud Ateeq al-Motawaa
Technical support for implementation of STEPS is provided by WHO headquarters, regional and country offices, including STEPS training workshops delivered at different stages of the surveillance process: planning and training, data collection, data analysis, and reporting, as well as data utilisation.
The survey in Qatar is the second cycle of STEPwise surveys, as a follow up for the 2012 survey, to provide a database on chronic non-communicable diseases and risk factors such as tobacco use, lack of physical activity, unhealthy nutrition, obesity, hypertension, increased blood glucose and increased blood fat.
The survey will be carried out by visiting more than 8,500 homes of Qatari nationals and non-Qatari residents after a random sample is selected from household lists, based on population census, 2020.
The participants of the survey will be in age group between 15 and 69 years.
Dr Kholoud Ateeq al-Motawaa, head of NCD department at MoPH and National Team lead for the STEPwise survey said the initiative is important because it highlights the health needs related to NCDs in the country.
The results of the survey will be used to assist the Ministry of Public Health develop public health programmes that target efforts to lower the risk factors that lead to NCDs.
In a meeting with WHO mission, Nasser Saleh al-Mahdi, Director of Department of Censuses, Surveys, and Statistical Methods, PSA, pointed out the importance of co-operation between different government institutions in the fields of health research.
Nasser added that the provision of updated and statistically accurate data for NCDs and its risk factors is a national task, the findings of which will help in developing health services to the community. The provision of comprehensive data on the diseases and the risk factors associated with them will help cut rates of non-communicable diseases and deaths in Qatar.
Dr Heba Fouad, Regional Surveillance Officer, Department of UHC/Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, World Health Organisation, drew attention to the increasing rates of morbidity and mortality due to NCDs and their associated risk factors globally and in Qatar.
During meetings with MoPH and PSA, she stated that active involvement of all sectors and an integrated governmental approach is the key to success for this survey.
The WHO mission also stressed that implementing STEPwise survey in line with the validated protocol and data collection tools is an integral part that ensures quality of data collected and also global comparison of country data with other countries.
