Rui Luís says National Health Survey with Physical Examination should serve as basis for health intervention strategies
The Regional Secretary for Health highlighted in Angra do Heroísmo the importance of epidemiological studies, such as the National Health Survey with Physical Examination for the planning and monitoring of regional health policies.
"The participation in projects of this scope is undoubtedly an added value for the Region, which allows the updating of knowledge about the state of health and disease among the population," said Rui Luís.
In his speech at the opening of the seminar "National Health Survey with Physical Examination - A Look at the Health of the Azoreans," Rui Luís said the conclusions of this study will contribute to rethinking strategies and, thus, achieve more quality in the provision of health care.
In this context, the Regional Secretariat for Health is developing a Regional Programme for the Promotion of Healthy Eating, which will be presented in October.
As for the indicators of that national survey, with regard to food, it is verified that the prevalence of non-consumption of vegetables is at 42% among the Azorean population, while the prevalence of non-consumption of fruit is at 30%.
In regard to sedentarism, there has been a decrease of 30% in the national framework over 16 years, while in the 2015 survey the prevalence in the Azores is at 52%.
Data on oral health places the Azores in third place in the national ranking, as regards to access to the dentist.
Thus, the data indicate that 50.6% of the population had at least one consultation in less than one year and 47.6% one consultation in 12 months or more.
In the secondary prevention of cancer diseases, the study shows that, in the breast cancer screening, the Azores keep up with the national averages; 92% of women aged between 50 and 69 had mammograms while only 2.2% were not tested.
The seminar promoted by the Regional Directorate for Health, which will also take place Thursday in Ponta Delgada, is attended by specialists from Dr. Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute and aims to present the results of the survey to health professionals and entities linked to municipalities, education and sport.
The observational, epidemiological and cross-sectional prevalence study had as target population individuals aged 25-74 living in Mainland Portugal and in the Autonomous Regions.
Among the 4,911 individuals observed, 754 resided in the Azores.