A plan is under consideration to develop a registry for all patients in Qatar with multiple chronic conditions in order to identify and prioritise the healthcare needs of this priority population, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has said.
The registry will provide the health sector with epidemiological data required to get a better understanding of the distribution, determinants and burden of disease of multiple chronic conditions, with a focus on diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases, according to a statement issued by the MoPH yesterday.
People with multiple chronic conditions make up one of the priority populations identified by the National Health Strategy 2018-2022. Plans for this group aim to develop a registry for such patients, educate them to manage their conditions more effectively and offer them better integrated health services.
“In Qatar, 69% of deaths are the result of chronic conditions. Additionally, the number of patients with more than one chronic condition is expected to rise in the coming years due to the increase in the number of people developing chronic conditions at a young age, in addition to the increasing size of the elderly population,” the ministry explains.
Health improvement plans for this group include educating patients on how to manage their conditions successfully, by maintaining healthy behaviours and avoiding negative complications and unnecessary hospital admissions.
Dr Maryam al-Emadi, national lead for the ‘People with Multiple Chronic Conditions’ priority population, within the National Health Strategy 2018-2022, said: “Self-care is considered one of the most successful strategies for management of multiple chronic conditions as it helps mitigate further complications from occurring. Empowering patients with the skills and knowledge needed to manage their conditions has the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality while improving health outcomes and quality of life for patients with multiple chronic conditions.
“We are working with service providers to establish training and education programmes that will develop workforce competencies in patient education about self-care for this group of patients.
“We aim to enable these patients to lead healthy independent lives.”
The implementation of clinical guidelines will help standardise and improve the consistency of care provided to patients, leading to better health outcomes, improved continuity of care and a reduction in unnecessary hospital admissions.
Partners across the health sector are working collectively on developing and implementing evidence based clinical guidelines that support healthcare professionals to deliver care using interventions of proven clinical benefit.
The plans addressing the needs for this priority population will build on the successful work already in place by the health sector. This includes the different initiatives under the Qatar National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2022 and the National Cancer Framework 2017-2022, which focus on prevention, screening, research and educating patients as well as healthcare professionals.
About the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 was launched under the theme ‘Our Health, Our Future’, and reflects a global shift in thinking by taking a population health approach. It identifies seven priority population groups and five priority areas for system wide focus.
HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari had appointed 12 national health strategy leads to lead the planning and implementation for the 12 strategy priorities.
