The Government of the Republic of Tanzania and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) intends to conduct a study of indicators of non-communicable diseases throughout the country in order to identify the extent of these diseases
Inaugurating a national study of indicators of non-communicable diseases in Dodoma, Minister of Health Zanzibar Nassor Ahmed Mazrui has said that due to the increase in non-communicable diseases in the country, the Government has decided to conduct the study which will be conducted by the National Institute for the Study of Human Diseases NIMRI.
He said that the research will be the second one where the previous research was done in 2011 in Zanzibar and in 2012 in mainland Tanzania where this research which is expected to be done in the whole of Tanzania which will start in the eighth month of this year will include people from 18 to 69 years old.
He said that according to the statistics of the World Health Organization WHO for the year 2020, 41 million deaths from non-communicable diseases occurred equal to 71 percent of all deaths and 57 million died in 2016.
He has informed on the Tanzanian side that the statistics show that the problem of non-communicable diseases causes 33 percent of all deaths and the data collected in health care centers show a large increase in non-communicable diseases.
In addition, he has informed that many patients who attend service centers in Tanzania are suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory diseases and other diseases.
He has asked the committee that conducts the research together with the development stakeholders to cooperate during the implementation of the research with the aim of preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases while asking them to conduct studies of these diseases every short time and not staying for a long period of time causes a great impact on the society.
On the part of the Director General of the National Institute for the Study of Human Diseases, NIMRI, Professor Said Aboud has said that the data that will be collected through the study of indicators of non-communicable diseases will be used as a compass to guide towards developing evidence-based strategies to improve the health of Tanzanians.
He has informed that by understanding the risk indicators of non-communicable diseases including such as the use of tobacco, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, improper eating will enable the development of methods that will help overcome the problem and have accurate statistics and be able to deal with non-communicable diseases.
On the part of the representative from the World Health Organization, Dr. Alphancne Nanai, who said that out of ten deaths that occur in the country, seven deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases.
He informed that many people are suffering from non-communicable diseases without knowing it due to the fact that the disease has no direct symptoms, so the research will help to identify the extent of non-communicable diseases in this country.
Also the Director of Prevention and Health Education, Dr. Salim Slim, has said that the collaboration to conduct the research will help to a great extent to lay good foundations to eliminate this problem and prevent early deaths as well as promote the economy of Tanzanians.
Earlier, the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health in Mainland Tanzania, Professor Tumaini Nagu, said that a professional and advisory committee has been formed which includes experts from mainland Tanzania and the islands, the aim of which is to achieve the research and bring good results in this country.
