National NCD Action Plan and the Tobacco Cessation Toolkit introduced

The National NCD (non-communicable disease) Action Plan and the Tobacco Cessation Toolkit has been introduced today.

At a special ceremony held at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the NCD Action Plan was inaugurated by the Minister of Health, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim while the National Tobacco Cessation Toolkit was introduced by the WHO Representative to the Republic of Maldives, Dr. Arvind Mathur.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Health Minister said that smoking has significantly increased among the youth. The Cessation Toolkit introduced today has helpful information for those seeking to quit smoking and Minister Nazim said that the introduction of the Tobacco Cessation Toolkit was an important support for those people.

The Minister said that the most important thing following the NCD Action Plan is to make sure the action plan is implemented at every level.

Minister Nazim said that an eleven country regional conference would be held in Sri Lanka very soon where the issues with the NCD would be discussed.

The NCD Actional Plan inaugurated today includes the planning and execution of the awareness programs on the NCDs most common in the country for the next five years.

It is a plan that would be implemented on the national level in relation to the international agreements on NCDs and working on a national level.

The Tobacco Cessation Toolkit was prepared for doctors to help those who wish to quit smoking.

Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that according to the statistics of 2014, 81 percent of deaths in the country are caused by NCD. And the most common NCDs in the Maldives are cardiovascular diseases, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases.