The Ministry of Health has revealed plans to conduct a special programme to raise public awareness on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as the prevalence of NCDs continues to increase in the country.
Speaking about the programme, Health Minister Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim highlighted the challenges faced in preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer, saying that the country is seeing a worrisome trend in non-communicable disease mortality.
“It is important to further increase public awareness on NCDs as such diseases are preventable through lifestyle changes and healthy habits,” he said.
In September last year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that non-communicable diseases accounted for 80% of all deaths in the Maldives.