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Rabat – The ministry’s National Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factor Survey shows that Moroccan youth suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood cholesterol.
A rate of 53 percent of Moroccans above the age of 18 are overweight; 29.3 percent suffer from high blood pressure; 10.6 are diabetic; 10.4 percent risk developing diabetes, 20 percent suffer from obesity, 10 percent are obese; and 5 percent have high blood cholesterol.
The survey also revealed that 11.7 percent of youth smoke cigarettes; 1.7 percent drink alcohol; 21.1 percent are physicially inactive and are risking adverse health conditions, and 76.3 percent consume do not consume enough fruits or vegetables.
The survey includes information and risk factors about the diseases that will enable health officials to keep track of statistics and develop measures to combat noncommunicable diseases, according to Morocco’s health minister, Anas Doukkali.
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Meanwhile, the health ministry’s 2018-2019 strategy of control and prevention against noncommunicable diseases with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) covered 6,100 families to reduce the rate of the diseases by 2050.
According to WHO, noncommunicable diseases kill 41 million people in the world each year, representing 71 percent of all deaths globally.
“Modifiable behaviours, such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and the harmful use of alcohol, all increase the risk of NCDs,” states WHO.
