BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) is the Number 1 killer in the world, accounting for over 63 per cent of all annual deaths, and the NCD burden is expected to increase by 17 per cent over the next 10 years, Borneo Bulletin reported.
Brunei is no exception when it comes to facing the increasing NCD burden (such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer) triggered by poor lifestyle habits.
Here, NCDs account for over half of all deaths locally (at 51.9 per cent or 641 out of total 1, 236 of all deaths), with the four leading causes being cancer, heart diseases, diabetes mellitus and cerebrovascular diseases or stroke.
Phase 1 of the 2nd National Health and Nutritional Status Survey 2009 – 2011 has shown that 8.8 per cent of Bruneian children aged under five-years-old are overweight, and 3.3 per cent of them are obese. Preliminary result of Phase II has shown that the number of obese adults has doubled since the last study in 1998.
The worrying trend of NCDs in Brunei Darussalam was highlighted by Pg Dr Hj Md Khalifah bin Pg Hj Ismail, the Director General of Health Services under Ministry of Health, in his welcoming remark at the opening ceremony of the follow up consultation on the Development of a National Multi-Sectorial Plan for NCDs prevention and Control 2013 – 2018, which is scheduled to be completed and launched this year to prevent and control NCDs.
“We anticipate that this will continue relentlessly to dominate our health landscape in years to come and substantially impact Brunei’s socio-economic development, if not addressed effectively and in a comprehensive manner,” the director general told
At least 80 per cent of premature deaths from heart disease, stroke and Type II diabetes, and 40 per cent of cancers are preventable through simply changing one’s behaviour and leading a healthier lifestyle – namely by practicing a healthy diet, exercising regularly and avoiding tobacco and alcohol use.
“We need to seriously advocate the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles, and more importantly, to facilitate the translation of awareness to health-promoting behaviours, which in itself is known to be particularly challenging,” he pointed out
Other challenges outlined included the provision of enabling, innovative and promotive environments as well as approaches conducive for sustaining healthy lifestyle practices and healthy living, and the development and enforcement of related legislative measures and policies directed at the control of risk factors.
Another significant challenge which is commonly faced by health systems the world over is the need to ensure we have adequate capacity, resources and technical expertise to address the complexity of NCDs – from prevention, promotion to treatment aspects, as well as surveillance, monitoring and research.
Touching on the National Strategic Action Plan for NCD prevention and control, he highlighted “The committee has prepared and developed a draft framework on the five-year multisectoral plan for NCD prevention and control in Brunei Darussalam. The draft framework is a comprehensive action plan against NCDs based on evidence, best practices, as well as guidelines and recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO).”
The committee has identified two main strategic themes and five (5) main objectives. The two strategic themes are improving health through enabling environment and healthy choices; and improving health through enhancing the continuum of care for NCD.”
The workshop, specifically organised for clinicians, focus mainly on the second strategic theme- Improving health through enhancing the continuum of care for NCD. The aim of this workshop is to provide a platform for the relevant clinicians to actively participate and contribute to the development and implementation of the action plans towards achieving the objectives under the strategic theme that is to identify people at risk of NCD effectively and to improve the quality of care and outcome of NCD management.
Some of the action plans and initiatives under the strategic theme and objectives that have been identified include – Developing a tobacco ABC guideline, conducting cardiovascular disease risk scoring for patients at high risk and training of healthcare professionals in using the risk scoring, increasing accessibility of smoke cessation clinics and services, and also adopting the WHO Package of Essential Non-communicable diseases (PEN) interventions in primary care, and enhancing the rehabilitation and palliative care services.
Invited facilitator for the workshop was Dr Cherian Varghese, Senior Medical Officer from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Western Pacific Regional Office.