The nationwide STEPwise Survey taking place in Qatar later this year will help in developing several specific plans in the National Diabetes Strategy, a senior official of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) said.
“We are keen on the statistics from this survey as every other estimate of diabetes prevalence is biased or inaccurate," explained Prof Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra, deputy chief medical officer and director of Qatar Metabolic Institute, HMC.
"So this will provide us with inputs and statistics to calculate the true incidents. It will help us to develop a number of specific plans in the National Diabetes Strategy of which I am the co-chair,” he stated while speaking on the sidelines of the recent Middle East Forum on Patient safety 2023.
“The STEPwise survey is very important for us. We had the last STEPwise survey in 2012 and if we have one in 2023, it is happening after 11 years. The new survey will be epidemiologically representative of the Qatar population and provide the latest figures about the prevalence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases. It will provide very important insights about the degree of prevalence of diabetes in the country,” said, Prof Abou Samra.
The official noted that the survey will be launched by the Ministry of Public Health this year in collaboration with the Planning and Statistics Authority.
“Measures taken to reverse diabetes among people will be reflected in the survey. We have taken several measures to combat diabetes in the country and we hope they help reduce the rise of diabetes incidents in the country,” added, Prof Abou Samra.
The new STEPwise survey aims to cover 8,000 Qatari and non-Qatari families. It is the second cycle of STEPwise surveys and a follow up of the 2012 survey, conducted in collaboration with the World Health organisation. It aims to provide a database on chronic non-communicable diseases and risk factors of non-communicable diseases in Qatar.
Prof Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra
