Delegates walk to celebrate the World Health Day (April 7) and support the Healthy Việt Nam Programme in Hà Nội on Sunday.— VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — Health experts called Vietnamese people to put their best feet forward, and walk 10,000 steps each day.

This will help fight illness in later life such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.

The message was delivered at a meeting to celebrate the World Health Day (April 7) in Hà Nội on Sunday.

“Please challenge your target number of 10,000 steps per day,” said Dr Kidong Park WHO Representative in Việt Nam at the event.

“The 10,000 steps initiative will help you be physically active and healthy.

“Today marks a very meaningful beginning of two key activities of the Healthy Việt Nam Programme - know your numbers and challenge your target numbers. I believe and I am sure that this programme will help Vietnamese journey towards universal health coverage and health for all,” said Dr Park.

Park said that NCD screening activities would let people know their blood pressure, their blood glucose and their lung capacity.

Those who then take part in NCD screening will be better placed to detect disease early. They will then be able to manage their disease at early stage at primary health care facility where they live, where they work and where they study.

“I would like to call on all Vietnamese to actively support and participate in the Healthy Việt Nam Programme,” said Dr Park.

Delegates exercise to respond the World Health Day (April 7) in Hà Nội on Sunday. —  VNS Photo Thanh Hải

Launched on Viet Nam Physician Day this year (February 27) by the Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, the Healthy Việt Nam Programme is a nationwide promotion to improve the health of Vietnamese people.

The programme promotes positive behaviours of no tobacco, no harmful use of alcohol, healthy eating and physically active life style.

It also promotes screening of major non- communicable disease such as hypertension and diabetes while strengthening major non-communicable diseases (NCD) management at primary health care level.

At the event, Health Minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến said Việt Nam faced many challenges taking care of people’s health.

The other sides of industrialisation, urbanisation, globalisation, population ageing and climate change caused the increase of disease infection, injury and early fatality, especially NCDs like diabetes, cancer, heart and chronic respiratory diseases. They are the leading “killers” causing 73-80 per cent of deaths yearly in Việt Nam.

“The reasons of high NCD infection and fatality rates in Việt Nam comes from bad habits and lifestyle of Vietnamese people, such as smoking, drinking beer and alcohol, eat less vegetables and fruits and lack of physical activities,” Tiến said.

“77 per cent of Vietnamese people misunderstood about high blood pressure and its risks and more than 70 per cent people do not know how to early detect and prevent high blood pressure. Fatality rate of cancer in Việt Nam is about 70 per cent due to most of patients visiting hospital for examination and treatment at late stages of cancers,” said Tiến.   

She said the situation of overweight, obesity, high blood pressure and high blood glucose was increasing while health care system at the grassroots level still did not manage chronicle diseases due to lack of human resource and facilities.       

Tiến added that the event aimed to strengthen community’s awareness on NCD prevention. It also aimed to promote healthy eating and physically active life style for all Vietnamese people.

At the event, doctors of the Cancer (K) Hospital, National Lungs Hospital, the National Heart Institute and the Endocrine Hospital provided free health checkups and consultations on NCDs, such as high blood pressure, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and breast cervical cancer screening for more than 1,000 residents in Hà Nội. — VNS