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Superbug infections could kill over 80,000 Malaysians by 2030, says Health Minister
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| Young people are checked for blood sugar levels.—VNA/VNS photo Dương Ngọc |
Viet Nam News
HCM CITY — The Mekong Delta province of Sóc Trăng plans to improve management of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and epilepsy, as well as schizophrenia, under instruction from the Ministry of Health.
Diabetes clubs will be set up at localities in the province, according to Dr Phan Hướng Dương, deputy director of the National Hospital of Endocrinology, and leader of the ministry’s inspection team.
Dương met recently with provincial authorities to discuss preventive measures related to noncommunicable diseases.
According to the province’s Department of Health, its preventive health programme is focusing attention on the management of diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy, schizophrenia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchial asthma and cancer.
More than 25 per cent of patients with hypertension are being treated at the province’s grassroots-level health facilities.
The province has set a goal to offer treatment for at least half of the patients who have hypertension.
About 45 per cent of diabetic patients are being treated for blood sugar control, while all patients with epilepsy and schizophrenia in the province are treated at commune-level health stations.
Fifty per cent of patients with COPD receive treatment, while the number of cancer patients treated at health facilities is very low, only 5.4 per cent of the province’s total number of cancer patients.
The province has faced challenges in its preventive health programme, including a shortage of officials in charge of its many different levels of health facilities.
The province’s authorities have asked the Ministry of Health to provide software and more funds for management of noncommunicable diseases at grassroots-level health facilities. — VNS
