The Ministry of Health (MoH) launched on Sunday its most far-reaching health survey to assess the health status of the population.
A Health Ministry official said that the survey would cover 50,000 families.
“By this survey the MoH seeks to assess the health status of the population and pinpoint risk factors, such as lack of exercise and smoking, in addition to assessing the health ability to respond to aspirations and needs of the population,” the ministry official said. 
He said the ministry will evaluate its services Kingdomwide and decide whether existing services need modifications.
MoH officials said the survey will provide reliable data about the health status of the population. The data will help target health problems and help the ministry develop appropriate solutions.
“It also aims to create a base of data and evidence to assess performance of the health system and its ability to achieve designed objectives and provide decision-makers with the required information to deal with the policies, strategies and programs, as and when necessary,” a MoH official said.
The survey is expected to include 250,000 people of different age groups with the participation from 571 health centers and 9,000 health practitioners and administrators.
The study will be implemented in all regions and take about six months to complete. The survey includes field visits and laboratory examinations to detect diabetes, blood pressure and weight and height measurements, in order to identify Body Mass Index (BMI) and related obesity from a selected sample of 25,000 family members.
The Ministry of Health is increasingly concerned about major communicable and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and Dengue and River Valley fevers.
Noncommunicable diseases and road traffic injuries are the leading causes of death and disability in the Kingdom. According to a health expert, the country is facing a rising burden of noncommunicable diseases and road traffic injuries as a result of rapid changes in behavior.
“Our results demonstrate the need for major intervention to reduce these burdens and to engage other sectors of the government and the community in these efforts,” he added.
The work mechanism of the survey will be in accordance with the expertise of local and international experts, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).

Source : Arab News