Africa-Press – Mauritius. The population is called upon to maintain a good balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, to practice sports, and to reduce the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol, stated the Minister of Health and Wellness (MOH&W), Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, at the Health Promotion Campaign – Healthy Nation on Saturday 15th October 2022 at the Super U in Grand Bay.
The Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Mr Avinash Teeluck, the Parliament Private Secretary, Mr Anjiv Ramdhany, and other personalities were present
The event is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the National Insurance Company, the Heart Foundation Mauritius, the Diabetes Foundation Mauritius under the theme” Healthy Nation”.
In his address, Minister Jagutpal highlighted that there is a great prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) in Mauritius such as cardiovascular, hypertension and diabetes.
He indicated that according to the National Health Accounts 2022, Government spent Rs 8 billion on NCDs and Rs 1.2 billion on cardiovascular diseases. It is high time for the population to make their health their topmost priority, he stated.
The Minister underlined that it is in this context that the health campaign is being organised so as to better raise awareness among the population on the prevalence of NCDs and enable early diagnosis.
The campaign comprises: screening tests in mobile clinics across the island; ECG-Electro Cardiogram tests in mobile clinics; sensitisation campaign in schools; and counselling by officers of the MOH&W.
He also spoke of other Governmental initiatives to provide the citizens with appropriate sports facilities. They include: implementation of National Sports and Physical Activity Policy; launching of 22 Health Clubs: and extension of physical exercises programmes to 70 centres.
The Minister further indicated that as per the Mauritius NCD Survey 2021, 40.2% of the population aged 25 to 74 are practicing at least 30 minutes of sports on a daily basis compared to 23.7 % in 2015.
The rate of diabetes has decreased from 22.8% in 2015 to 19.9 in 2021, he added. Nevertheless, he deplored that an excessive consumption of alcohol had been noted in particular among the youth.
Government, he said, is doing all in its capacity to create a healthy nation but it also requires the efforts of each and every one to take care of their health. He made an appeal to the population to benefit from the prevention campaigns and to make the most of the screening tests and counselling.
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
