Ministry of Health to launch new survey on NCDs in Fiji after 13 years

The Ministry of Health has been focusing on conducting a survey in Fiji on non-communicable diseases after the last survey that was held back in 2011.

Chief Dietician Ateca Kama and STEPS survey coordinator Taina Gucake stated this during the VitiFM Vakaribamalamala talk-back show.

While highlighting the overview of the analysis of NCDs in Fiji, Kama says non-communicable diseases are becoming a socio-economic burden for Fiji as they account for an estimated 84 percent of premature deaths.

She says during the 2011 survey, 16 percent of the people smoked cigarettes in a month, 15 percent drank alcohol, 22 percent drank kava daily and 85 percent were not eating healthy foods in a month.

Kama says NCDs are high in Fiji because there is a lack of physical activity, poor diets, abuse of tobacco and alcohol, and environmental factors.

She says primary prevention and enhancing wellness must be placed in the communities rather than crisis management approaches which only focus on NCD control and strengthening resilience in disasters and pandemics.