Oman health: Cardiovascular disease is top killer of Omanis

Muscat: For more than a decade, cardiovascular disease has been the number one killer of Omanis.
More people die from cardiovascular disease than diabetes and cancer combined, and it is all preventable, according to officials.
Data from 2012 indicated an 18 per cent chance that adults will contract one non-communicable disease in their lifetime, such as cardiovascular disease. Experts, such as Dr. Ahmed Al-Busaidi, Secretary for the National Non-Communicable Committee, does not see a decrease in this morbidity rate anytime soon.
“I don’t think the data from 2016 will be much different than in the past years. It is a trend from the past five years. Within the last ten years, there is still a high rate of deaths, and that is the problem with non-communicable diseases,” Dr Al Busaidi said.
In the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) study conducted by the World Health Organisaton in 2014, cardiovascular disease-related deaths made up 33 per cent (3,135 people) of all Omani deaths that year. Further, diabetes and cancer, combined, were responsible for 20 percent of the deaths in 2014, and not nearly as high as cardiovascular disease.
Just two years before, in 2012, another study reported Ischemic heart disease was taking the highest number of lives, leaving around 1,400 families broken.
In 2002, 42 per cent of all deaths were attributed to cardiovascular diseases. Once again, diabetes and cancer, combined, were responsible for 24 per cent of that year’s number of deaths.
Dr Al Busaidi believes that diabetes still plays a major role, despite what data may show.
“Seventy five per cent of all cardiovascular patients also have diabetes. In past years, we used to register around 5,000 diabetic patients a year, but in 2015 we had more than 7,000 registrants.
“People need to change their lifestyles; otherwise, they will not live for more than 70 years,” Dr. Al Busaidi stated.
There are three common risk factors associated with combating non-communicable diseases, including physical activity, a healthy diet, and avoiding tobacco.
“We need to focus on the risk factors that are common among all these diseases. Studies now show that tobacco causes many NCD, and one hour of shisha is equivalent to smoking 200 cigarettes. When it comes to weight, children are becoming obese and, the trend is now, ‘the more you grow, the more obese you are’. Half of the population is overweight, 25 per cent of Omanis are obese and 29 per cent are overweight,” Dr. Al Busaidi added.