Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Survey 2021 was launched, this morning, at the Anjuman Hall in Camp Diable in the presence of the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal.
The overall objective is to gain new insight on the burden of disease through the collection of relevant, sensitive and scientific data for health policy makers and professionals to take the right decision as regards prevention and management of NCD.
In his address, Dr Jagutpal underlined that this exercise will target some 4,300 Mauritians aged between 20 to 74 years who are dispersed in 15 clusters around the country.
The main objective will be to determine the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and their associated risk factors in our population, he said. Participants will be tested for parameters like micro albumin and blood pressure. Blood specimen will also be collected, and glucose load evaluated.
In addition, all participants above 35 years will go for an Electro Cardiogram and they will also be appraised in the context of a study on sleep apnea in the Mauritian population.
Participants with diabetes will also undergo retinal screening. The participant’s Pulse Wave Velocity, which is an indicator for artery Performance, will also be evaluated.
Dr Jagutpal underlined that the findings and recommendations from the Survey will allow the Ministry to review its strategy as regards the Public Health Service’s response. The NCD survey 2021 will also undoubtedly shed new light on the current situation in Mauritius, he added.
The Health Minister indicated that this exercise has mobilised some 250 staffs from the Ministry of Health and Wellness adding that it has also secured the collaboration of various international institutions in its endeavour to gather precious information.
They include: experts from the Monash University in Australia, the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, the University of Helsinki, the OULU University based in Finland, the UMEA University Hospital of Sweden, the Imperial College from the UK, and the World Health Organisation. Several professionals from abroad will assist the Ministry of Health and Wellness in the conduct of the study.
They are: Professor Tuomilehto who has been working alongside the Ministry for the preparation of six NCD surveys in Mauritius and four NCD surveys for Rodrigues; Professor Soderberg who has profound knowledge in diseases of pulmonary circulation and in heart transplantation; and Mr Stenback, who is currently doing a research on the effects of physical activity on metabolism, health and disease, while also assessing the relations between Type 2 diabetes and physical activity.
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