Public awareness key to reducing risks associated with NCDs

HCM City (VNA) - A comprehensive approach is needed among all sectors and stakeholders to reduce the risks associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and to promote interventions to prevent and control them, medical experts said. 

Speaking at a conference on non-communicable diseases on November 22, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Lan Viet, vice president of the Vietnam Cardiology Association, said it was important to raise people’s awareness about the risks of NCDs for early detection and treatment management.

It’s vital to strengthen screening for disease-causing factors and risks, and promote preventive measures for early detection and treatment management to improve the chances of effective treatment, he added.

While NCDs such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer progress silently without obvious symptoms, most people do not pay enough attention to periodic check-ups, leading to severe consequences that affect their quality of life, according to Viet.

He recommended people should maintain a healthy lifestyle such as exercising regularly, having a healthy diet, and regularly monitoring for symptoms of illnesses for prompt treatment.

During the event, the Vietnam Cardiology Association and Merck Healthcare Vietnam Co., Ltd. signed an agreement to enhance awareness and knowledge about non-communicable diseases for the community and health workers.

Under the agreement, training programmes will be organised for health workers in the 2023-2025 period.

A website (www.01minh.com) will be developed to act as a medical “handbook” about NCDs for patients and medical staff.

Among the problems facing the health sector include the shortage of medical staff in the field of NCDs, especially at hospitals at provincial, district and commune levels. 

There is also a shortage of drugs, facilities and equipment, especially at grassroots medical stations.

Medical experts recommend that healthy people aged 25 and older should be screened at least once a year, or twice a year if they have certain chronic conditions. 

According to the latest statistics published by the World Health Organization, globally NCDs kill 41 million people each year or equivalent to 74% of all deaths.

Of them, 77% are in low- and middle-income countries, including Vietnam.

Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths annually at 17.9 million, followed by cancers (9.3 million), chronic respiratory diseases (4.1 million), and diabetes (2 million including kidney disease deaths caused by diabetes).

Modifiable behaviours such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and the use of alcohol all increase the risk of NCDs, according to WHO.

Detection, screening and treatment, as well as palliative care, are key components of the response to NCDs, it said./.