Eighteen community dieticians from around the country were reminded today to focus on wellness concept while being presented with the Dietitians Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Toolkit.
This NCD toolkit has been designed to tackle NCD’s in a renewed manner to conduct screenings on cholesterol, weight control and the prevention of anemia.
Fiji's National advisor for Non-communicable diseases Doctor Isimeli Tukana said " we need to change people diets into wellness".
“One of the major problems in Fiji which is unhealthy eating habits is the leading cause of Non-Communicable diseases,” Dr Tukana said.
“We need to reach out to our communities which is the reason we have the toolkits to create wellness and change the people’s mindset to move away from unhealthy living.”
Dr Tukana encouraged health workers to work with nurses and doctors in the various health centres to provide early interventions to maintain nutrition wellness.
Australian Aid Program Acting Senior Program Manager and Bilateral Health officer Margaret Vuiyasawa said Fiji is well aware of the burden of NCD and the challenges it poses to the health sector.
“These kits will effectively allow dieticians to screen people and provide appropriate interventions for cardiovascular risks and anaemia,” Mrs Vuiyasawa said.
AusAID offered funding for the purchase of the kits with amount $54,000 through the Fiji Health Sector Support Program to the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile National Adviser Dietetics and Nutrition Anaisi Delai said from the national surveys undertaken it has been noted that most people in the country are lacking nutritional meals.
“Only about 13 percent maintain a healthy diet which includes fruits and vegetables, 44 percent of people have high cholesterol and 51 percent are overweight and obese,” Mr Delai said.
Mrs Delai highlighted that this is one of the areas that the Nutrition department will focus on to ensure healthy population.
The department is expected to release results from the National Nutritional survey next year which is conducted every 10 years.
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