Saeed Al Khotani Saudi Gazette RIYADH — Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, the International Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Arab World and the Middle East will begin this evening –– Sunday, Septmber 9. The opening ceremony and the conference session will be conducted in Prince Sultan Hall at Al Faisaliyah Hotel. The ceremony will be followed by a round table discussion to which the participating health ministers and top Saudi and international figures are invited. The Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah highly underscored the patronage of the King to this very important international conference. “This patronage shows how much the leader of our beloved country cares about the health of his people and offer his unlimited support for their health and well- being,” he said. Al Rabeeah said that this conference affirms the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's keenness and commitment to the special declaration on the global strategy for combating NCDs endorsed by the head of states and governments in September last year. The Vice Minister for Health Affairs, Dr. Mansoor Al Hawwai said that the Ministry of Health (MoH) looks very seriously at the NCDs and gives them the needed priority. The seriousness of these kinds of diseases has led the ministry to launch many programs that not only combat or detect them at very early stages, but also prevent them as much as possible in the first place. These programs include diabetes prevention program, cancer fighting program, anti smoking program, balanced nutrition and physical activity program, and cardiovascular diseases prevention program among a host of others, Al Hawwai said.
The Vice Health Minister for Planning and Development, Dr Muhammed Khushaim, said the MoH will not spare any resources for the success of the conference. Khushaim added that success can't be attained without collaborative actions from other governmental and private organizations with MoH against combating the NCDs. Khusaim expressed his hope for a fruitful cooperation between his ministry and the media in raising awareness to promote healthy lifestyles. “Data and information available to us proves that the NCDs are preventable to a large extent and are also treatable.” “Though, there is a long way to go, we, in the Ministry, are sure that we can make a shift in the quality of awareness with shared efforts based on available data and information. And this conference is a good step in this direction,” Khusaim said. The Deputy Minister for Public Health and the Head of the Conference Higher Organizing Committee, Dr. Ziad Maimish, said that the organizing of this event comes in the light of new findings that indicate NCDs will proliferate and death rates will increase in the upcoming ten years if countries do not formulate strategic policies against these diseases. Maimish said the Kingdom has registered high rates in a number of NCDs like diabetes, obesity, blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other ailments. “For example, diabetes has recorded a 28 percent increase in people over thirty, obesity has risen by 36 percent, physical inactivity by 33 percent, blood pressure by 26 percent, cholesterol by over 19 percent and smoking by 13 percent.” The Kingdom took the initiative to organize this conference because of the World Health Organization's (WHO) concern toward rising NCD's in the past few years in the Arab and Middle East countries. Maimish said that there are major goals and specific objectives of the conference. The major goals include raising political awareness on the increasing magnitude of NCDs and their serious implications and the impact on health and socio-economic development in the Arab world and the Middle East. Also, the strengthening of political commitment for scaling up action across the various government sectors based on the UN General Assembly Political Declaration of September 2011, and promoting national multi-sectored NCD prevention and control programs in the region. Specific objectives include reviewing evidence relating to the magnitude and impact of NCD on health and socio-economic outcomes, and presenting globally endorsed strategies and tools to address the epidemic of NCD and review cost effective measures that countries can adopt in the areas of prevention of healthcare for NCDs. Among the objectives is articulating a roadmap for action in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) based on the UN political declaration, and strengthening international and regional cooperation for the prevention and control of NCDs, with a particular focus on expanding national capacity in countries of the region. Maimish said that the conference represents a unique opportunity for governments and non-governmental stakeholders in the region to reassess their commitment to multi-sectored action on exerting strong sustained political leadership. The aim is also to scale up essential access to NCDs treatment and care in the region and to involve all sectors in the community, including civil society and the private sector in prevention and control activities. During the three-day conference, many pressing topics and issues on NCDs will be tackled in more than ten sessions by over sixty local, regional, and international speakers with an audience comprised of varying specialties, such as health promoting specialist, healthcare workers, activists in health well-being and government service and industry officials and experts. The spokesman of the MoH, Dr. Khalid Marghalani, said that his ministry has worked in close coordination with the WHO on the organization of this conference. He said that delegations recommended by the ministries of health, foreign affairs and planning of the member states of the WHO Arab league and East Mediterranean Region, as well as representatives of the UN funds, programs and agencies, international financial institutions, developmental banks and other international organizations will attend the conference. Marghlani said that in addition to these international participants, many participants from local government and private organizations are expected. These include general presidency of youth welfare, Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Higher Education, Medical Services at each of Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, the National Guard, Ministry of Culture and Information, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance, Ministry of Social Affairs, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, and many other scientific association from different healthcare and medical specialties. “The conference will be a unique opportunity for learning in the field of NCDs for all participants. Registered attendees of the conference of the last category will earn medical education credits of 20 hours that will help them in their professional development and licensing,” Marghlani said. Obesity is generally attributed to increased consumption of high fatty foods and lack of physical activity, which may partly explain the prevalence of obesity among women in the countries of the region. Obesity is strongly associated with four main NCDs — cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. Based on current scientific information and studies, the WHO released a report on the status of NCDs for the year 2010 during the First Global Ministerial Conference on healthy lifestyles and NCDs in Moscow inn April / May last year. The one of a kind report highlights the problem of NCDs, its risk factors, and their determinants. The report was also prepared keeping in mind the policy-makers in the field of health, so that they could find ways and methods to eradicte this proliferating problem in the Arab and Middle East countries.
