The Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al-Mane has directed all MOH Directorates of Health Affairs to start execution of the International Health Survey as of 25/04/1428H, the Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Development Dr. Ghazi Al-Jeelani was quoted as saying.
Dr. Al-Jeelani told reporters yesterday morning in a press conference held at the MOH premises that the Health Survey is an exploration study for collecting accurate and dependable information on the health status of the population. The major goals of the survey is to find out some health indicators for the health situation in the Kingdom. It endevours to identify the major health problems in the Kingdom, find out solutions for them, and secure dependable and comparable information about the health situation in the Kingdom. The survey, moreover, aims at deriving a database for evaluating the performance of the health system in the Kingdom and its ability to realize goals and provide necessary information for the use of decision makers.
He said the survey shall evaluate the health status of the population, find out risk factors, such as smoking, evaluate the capability of the health system to respond to the anticipations and needs of the population, and identify the extent of coverage of health services and programs.
A cluster sample formed of 10900 families representing the whole population in the Kingdom has been selected by the Central Department of Statistics and Information from the actual records of the population census for the year 1425H. Executing the survey shall, therefore, require filling 10900 family forms as well as other individual forms, each family form including 30 pages and 179 questions, whereas each individual form is composed of 86 pages and 919 questions.
According to Dr. Al-Jeelani, the executive plan of the survey shall be carried out through five stages. The first stage has been a 7 months preparatory stage during which coordination has been made with relative bodies, samples received from the Central Department of Statistics and Information, directive meetings attended in GCC capital cities, and survey committees formed. A second one month stage followed during which a number of 575 survey supervisors, coordinators, field researchers have been trained. The third stage shall be allotted for data collecting within one month. This will be followed by a fourth two months stage for data entering and analysis, then a fifth 4 months stage for data classification, tabulation, and final report.
He said the most important health results and indicators required from the survey are the suitability of weights of children under five years compared to their ages, mortality rates of mothers, female fertility rates, average size of families, raw mortality rates, and prevalence rates of TB, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, accident injuries, asthmas, cancers, depression, and chronic pulmonary embolism.
Dr. Al-Jeelani said each survey field team shall be composed of a doctor, a nurse, and a coordinator, all carrying clear-cut IDs for convincing families to give required data. Survey works shall be at evening hours, the time allotted for each family ranging from 3 to 5 hours. The survey is composed of two parts, a list of questions and medical examination of one family member.
He said an intensive media campaign shall be launched two weeks prior to start of survey works, which will include both citizens and residents. He called upon all to give accurate and transparent information to the survey teams for enabling officials to make accurate estimates of the requirements of the society.