Ulaanbaatar
Mongolian Health Experts Discuss Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases
Society
Ulaanbaatar, January 29, 2025 /MONTSAME/. Non-communicable diseases in Mongolia account for 77 percent of all deaths nationwide. Of these, one in three people die from cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, health officials say that there is a need to take measures to reduce non-communicable diseases nationwide.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular
disease, cancer, and diabetes have been dramatically increasing among the
population in the last 20 years. "People visit the family health centers primarily
due to cardiovascular diseases. Of the approximately 150 people who visit family
health centers daily, 70-80 percent seek treatment for NCDs.
To prevent cardiovascular diseases, it is important to involve citizens in screening
and check-ups for early detection and prevention," said S. Tuul, Head of "Amin
Tus" family health center in Khan-Uul district, Ulaanbaatar.
Head of the Public Health Policy Department of the Ministry
of Health L. Battur highlighted, "NCDs are
preventable, as they are caused by lifestyle and other risk factors. Unfortunately,
the main causes of death are heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and
accidents."
The Law on Public Health Care and Services came into effect
in April last year. Experts in the field believe that the implementation of the
law is critical as it clearly defines the ways to safeguard citizens' health, improving the prevention and reduction of morbidity and mortality.
Head of the Department of Non-communicable Diseases of the Ministry of Health G. Gankhuyag emphasized, “The Ministry of Health is
implementing major systemic changes in the public health field. We are preparing specialists in
NCDs at the primary health care level in family health centers,
soums, and villages and conducting training to improve the capacity of public
health workers. In the first phase, training for public health nurses has begun, which will continue this year.”
Though NCDs are preventable, studies have shown that morbidity from NCDs is not decreasing among people aged 15-64. The Ministry of Health has implemented the “MongPEN” Model Project, a WHO package of essential NCD interventions in 14 aimags and three districts of Ulaanbaatar since 2019. As a result, the number of strokes and deaths decreased 2.5 times in Darkhan-Uul aimag and 1.4 times in Songino-Khairkhan district, Ulaanbaatar.
