Every two seconds someone aged 30 to 70 years dies prematurely from a non-communicable disease (NCD) worldwide and the death toll in Oman due to such diseases accounted for 72 per cent of all deaths in 2018, an expert said. That figure is higher than the global death toll due to NCDs (71 per cent in 2018), said Dr Adhra al Mawali, director of the NCD Strategic Research Programme, and director of the Centre of Studies and Research (Ministry of Health).
Dr Adhra was addressing a workshop organised by the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Strategic Research Programme, developed by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with The Research Council (TRC), on Wednesday at JW Marriott Muscat hotel. It was held under the patronage Dr Hilal bin Ali al Sabti, executive president of Oman Medical Specialty Board.
The workshop introduced the main objectives of the NCD programme such as providing evidence-based up-to-date extensive and reliable baseline data on the major preventable NCDs and their behavioural and biological risk factors in the sultanate, and providing an approach and structure, for establishing an efficient surveillance system to collect data on the prevalence and known risk factors of NCDs, for planning, implementation and evaluation as well as preventative and curative interventions and doing research on NCDs and their risk factors.
The workshop opened with a welcoming statement by H E Dr Ali al Hinai, Undersecretary for Planning Affairs in the Ministry of Health, and chairman of Steering Committee of NCD Strategic Research Programme.
H E Dr Hinai stated that the main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes in Oman. He said 36 per cent of all deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases, 11 per cent due to cancers, 8 per cent due to diabetes and 2 per cent due to chronic respiratory diseases. He stressed the importance of taking right actions to tackle this rising issue in the sultanate.
Dr Adhra also provided an overview about the NCD Strategic Research Programme. She discussed the goals, themes, action areas and process of submitting research proposals regarding the programme.
The workshop also included presentations on ‘TRC’s Strategic Research Programmes’ by Dr Salah al Zadjali, health expert at TRC, and ‘Suggestions to get your proposal accepted for the NCD Strategic Research Programme’ by Dr Khalid al Rasadi, director of Medical Research Centre (Sultan Qaboos University) and member of the Steering Committee of NCD Strategic Research Programme.
Both the presentations discussed in detail how to utilise information in favour of producing high-quality research papers.
Non-communicable diseases, also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.
Detection, screening as well as palliative care are key components of the response to NCDs.
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