Staff Reporter :
Ninety-seven per cent people in the country are at risk of being infected with non-communicable diseases, finds a new survey.
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) cause sixty per cent of the total deaths every year in Bangladesh, the survey said.
The risk factors considered in the survey include lack of healthy diets and absence from physical activity, intake of tobacco and alcohol, body-mass index condition and presence of blood sugar and hypertension.
National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine conducted the survey with technical support from the World Health Organisation.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque unveiled the survey findings at his office on Wednesday. The survey was carried out between September 2017 and June 2018 on 9,900 adults of 18-69 years old.
The non-communicable diseases are cardiovascular diseases, brain haemorrhage, chronic respiratory diseases, kidney damage and cancer.
About 90 per cent of Bangladeshis take less than five servings of fruits and vegetables, an amount globally considered as ideal intake of fruit and vegetables, finds the survey.
A serving of fruits equals to a moderate size of an apple and a serving of vegetables equals to a medium size cup of vegetables.
The survey finds that over 48 per cent of Bangladeshis have unhealthy dietary behaviour of adding salt in their foods and over 28 per cent people do not take any physical activity.
Moreover, about 44 per cent people take tobacco, either puff or chew.
The survey found that the Bangladeshis are unaware about their blood sugar level and cholesterol, while about 71 per cent people do not measure their blood sugar in their lifetime and 94 per cent people never measure cholesterol in their lifetime.
The survey found that the 29 per cent in urban and 24 per cent of rural people are hypertensive, 13 per cent people in urban and seven per cent in rural people have diabetes while 32 per cent of urban and 27 per cent of rural people have cholesterol.
Presenting the findings, lead researcher Baizid Khoorshid Riaz said the survey found a worrying picture of Bangladeshis about the risk factors associated with getting non-communicable diseases.
‘These essential indicators of non-communicable diseases will help the policymakers to adopt necessary intervention to combat the burden of non-communicable diseases,’ said Professor Baizid, also Director of NIPSOM.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque said that the survey findings were frustrating as the Bangladeshis are not taking adequate fruit and vegetables and habituated with unhealthy food and lifestyle.
He said that the nation once suffered from communicable diseases but the pattern is shifted now.
‘Now 67 per cent of Bangladeshis are now dying due to non-communicable diseases,’ he said.
The minister said many other risk factors like environment pollution and unsafe foods are contributing to non-communicable diseases.
‘We have to be aware now and work united to prevent the non-communicable diseases, treatment of which very costly,’ he said.
Replying to a question about the readiness of the health services in the face of the burden of non-communicable diseases, he said the government alone could not do everything, but the health ministry would not shrug off its responsibility.
‘People have to be aware about how to prevent the non-communicable diseases,’ he said.
