Nutrition survey to energise public health policies of UAE
UAE nationals and expatriate residents are encouraged to take part in the nationwide health survey
UAE nationals and expatriate residents are encouraged to take part in a nationwide health survey which would be jointly conducted for the first time with a nutrition survey across the emirates beginning this June.
Officially labelled as the “UAE National Health and Nutrition Survey 2024-2025,” and estimated to last for half a year to seven months, lead agency is the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) with partners Emirates Health Services, Department of Health-abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre, Dubaihealthauthority(dha),federalcompetitiveness andstatisticscentre(fcsc)anddubaidatastatistics.
Fcsc-statistics and Data Science Sector executive director Mohamed Hassan, who explained the methodology during the open forum of the Mondaypressconference,saidsalienttothetedious data gathering project is the Ministry of Interior.
On the ground are at least 210 government personnel--nurses,fieldsurveyors,localstatisticians, as well as policemen from all the seven emirates who had undergone and already passed specific security assessments in coordination with the MOHAP because involved are “sensitive information,” from 22,000 households and labour camps.
“We are closely working with the police authorities in each emirate,” said Hassan who had earlier stated that each of the 70 groups of three persons each, knocking at each already identified household and labour camp have a signed letter from the authorities, complete with all the contact details so that the pre-identified respondents could easily connect for and verify the veracity and truthfulness of the data collection.
The project is a take-off from the “UAE National Health Survey Report 2017-2018,” a copy of the 142-page document of which was consequently presented before the World Health Organisation; whereby in their respective messages before the leadership of the international institution, Minister of Health and Prevention Abdulrahman Bin Mohamed Al Owais and Mohap-public Sector assistant undersecretary Dr. Hussain Abdulrahman Al Rand stated that the survey was in accordance with the Uaenationalagenda2021withthe“mainobjective of providing a comprehensive data on household health, risk factors for non-communcable diseases (NCDS), under five health indicators including immunisation coverage, mortality, family planning, and fertility preferences, as well as maternal and child health, and health expenditure to be used by programme managers and policymakers to evaluate and improve existing programmes.”
On Monday, in answer to the several questions concerning how comprehensive this June 2024 to January 2025 survey is, Al Rand and Mohapstatistics and Research Centre director Dr. Alia Zaid Harbi pointed out that this is generally regarding socio-economics; family health expenditure; NCDS prevalence and risk factors; biophysical metrics; healthcare access and utilisation; air pollution; micronutrient(vitaminsaandd,zinc)deficiencies;child development indicators such as stunting, wasting, obesity and underweight for ages one day to five years; urinary iodine and sodium levels; anaemia in pregnantwomen;andsaltconsumptioningrammes.
In answer to a Gulf Today question and stating that from the previous national health survey, diabetes was at 11.8 per cent, Al Rand continued: “This time, we will see how we must embark further for our diabetes campaign. Are we going the right way or not. So, with this new survey, we might change our strategies and policies. These two surveys will give us a clue. We also want to know the out-of-pocket the people spend for their health. How much they pay. Since the COP28, we want to know the kind of environment they live in.”
“There will be blood tests,” said Harbi, adding that the enquiries, framed to decipher the respondents’ lifestyles and habits and in accordance with the globally-accepted WHO standards, shall provide not only the health community and authorities, but more importantly, people behind legislation and policies regarding eye and mental health that need utmost action.
Hassan said data gathering is critical as the elements factored in the 2024-2025 data are unavailable in the “administrative” or general data of the UAE Government such as the last doctor’s check-up, people’s behaviour towards health, lifestyle, eating habits, smoking, engagement in physical exercises, food choices “to change and improve policies and programmes.”
Dha-research, Studies and Data Analysis director Khalid Al Jallaf noted that surveys provide the government evidence-based data on how communities are similar and different from one another that enlighten authorities on the most appropriate approaches for betterment and improvement.