The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working in full swing in preparation for the Global Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Diseases, to be held under the generous auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, May Allah protect him, in Riyadh, from 10 to 12 September, 2012.
The Chairman of the Higher Organizational Committee of the Global Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable diseases, the Deputy Minister of Health for Public Health, Dr. Zeyad Memish, pointed out that the organization of this conference emanates from new developments that we have to deal with. Recent studies and statistics show that non-communicable diseases are on the rise. The ration of death caused by non-communicable diseases has risen to 63%, and it is expected to mount to 80% over the upcoming ten years, unless countries consolidate efforts and policies to put an end to the spread of such diseases. He went on to say that malnutrition still poses great impediments and problems in a number of the region's countries. That's to be added to obesity, which, in its turn, is associated with four basic disorders: cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. All such diseases are non-communicable, and they result in diminishing productivity, and burdens families with high cost, in spite of the improvement of men's and women's health in the region. The conference aims at raising the political awareness of the roles and responsibilities to be assumed by governments in combating non-communicable diseases, which are on the rise, and reducing their hazardous effects on the public health, as well as accentuating social and economic development in the Arab World and Middle East, putting forward the necessary regional strategies for the fulfillment of the political commitment.
According to Dr. Memish, the conference will be attended by 62 specialized experts, coming along from local, regional and international bodies and authorities, in addition to 15 Arab ministers of health. The conference will be held in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), and will be attended, also, by the delegations of the ministries of health, the ministries of foreign affairs, the ministries of planning of the member-states the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and the Arab League, as well as representatives of the UN programs, agencies and funds. In addition, it is expected that many international financial institutions, development banks and international organizations, aside from specialized experts from all over the world, will participate in the conference.
Dr. Memish further expounded that the Kingdom has recorded the statistics of non-communicable diseases: the ratio of diabetes in the Saudi society has mounted to 14%, out of whom 28% are over 30. About 36% of people suffer from obesity, and 19.3% suffer from high cholesterol. About 13.10% of Saudi people suffer from the complication of tobacco-use, and 26% of them suffer from hypertension. Those suffering from physical-activity-related problems make up 33.38%. “The conference will be attended by several government bodies and scientific associations,” Dr. Memish concluded.