Lifestyle diseases rising
MUSCAT — The Sultanate and Singapore have agreed to step up co-operation in many spheres, including small and medium enterprises (SMES), investment, promoting products and municipal services. The decisions were made during the 10th session of the Omani-singaporean Joint Committee meetings which concluded here yesterday.
Heading the Omani side at the two-day meeting was Ahmed bin Hassan al Dheeb, Commerce and Industry Under-secretary, while Lam Chuan Leong, senior ambassador at the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Singaporean side to the Omani-singaporean joint committee, led his country’s team.
The two sides agreed to promote Omani products in Singapore within the context of a local campaign codenamed “Omani”, which was conducted by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates.
Al Dheeb pointed out that the minutes focused on Oman’s benefiting from the Singaporean experience in developing SMES and support to the National Business Centre in Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM).
A training programme will be conducted in co-ordination with the Manpower Ministry and the National Singaporean Institute, the under-sercretary added.
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MUSCAT — As part of the national strategy to fight the deadly menace of non-communicable diseases (NCD), which was advocated during the Gcc-wide campaign, the Ministry of Health (MOH), hosted a partnership forum to raise awareness on NCD, under the auspices of Dr Salim bin Said al Wahaibi, DirectorGeneral of Health Affairs, at the Hotel Holiday Muscat yesterday.
Dr Salim noted the positive and negative effects of health aspects in contemporary societies.
He explained that the negative effects are changing the way these diseases are growing around the world and that the impact of infectious diseases increases the risk of affliction from NCD. This, he added, is mainly due to the unhealthy lifestyles adopted by modern-day societies.
In this regard, he said, lack of physical activity and deficient, unbalanced diet and food intake increases obesity and the associated psychological pressures and burdens of modern-day living.
He said the current attributed mortality and illness rates and disability caused by these diseases, average 60 per cent of all deaths, which with the present trend is expected to increase to 73 per cent by 2020.
Dr Salim elaborated by noting the indicators of the spread of NCD and the risk factors for the total population in the Sultanate: diabetes 15 per cent, hypertension 45 per cent, high cholesterol 37 per cent,
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