The Ministry of Health organized an awareness day on ‘Awareness of the risk factors leading to chronic non-communicable diseases’ at Sabah Al Salem Specialized Center.
The Director of the Department of Health Promotion, Dr. Abeer Al-Bahouh, in a statement to reporters on the sidelines of the event, said that more than 70% of deaths in Kuwait are attributed to the causes of chronic non-communicable diseases, which include cardiovascular diseases as the first cause of death by 41%, followed by cancer diseases by 15%, and then chronic respiratory diseases by 3% and the same as diabetes, reports a local Arabic daily.
She pointed out that there are high rates of obesity and diabetes in the country, pointing out that these diseases are responsible for 1.7 million deaths every year worldwide. She stated that the risk factors for these chronic diseases include smoking, poor nutrition, lack of activity, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption.
She emphasized that there are significant benefits to regular physical activity, as regular physical activity is linked to a reduced risk of developing a wide range of non-communicable diseases including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast and colon cancer.
She indicated that the ministry aims to reach the goal of reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity in Kuwait by 10% by 2026 and added that the general prevalence of smoking in Kuwait amounted to 20.5%, pointing out that the smoking rate among men was 39.2% compared to 3.3% among women.
