More than 680,000 men over the age of 18 visited clinics during the national month to identify risk factors that could lead to non-communicable diseases. The Ministry of Health press center reported that the main goal of the month was to attract men to primary healthcare facilities for the prevention of non-communicable diseases, early detection, and prevention of complications.
The Ministry noted that 149,000 men had never visited family medicine centers before or had visited them for the first time in the last two years. Over 44,000 men (6 percent) were classified as high risk for cardiovascular diseases, and nearly 33,000 (5 percent) were classified as high risk for diabetes. The overall coverage of men visiting medical facilities was 47 percent of the total number of men over 18 living in Kyrgyzstan, indicating a wide reach and effectiveness of the campaign.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are chronic, slowly progressing diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes. According to the Ministry of Health, cardiovascular diseases accounted for 52.1 percent of mortality causes in 2022, followed by oncological (12.2 percent) and respiratory (5.5 percent) diseases.
Common preventable risk factors for these NCDs include unhealthy eating habits (such as high salt intake and low fruit and vegetable consumption), tobacco use, alcohol abuse, and insufficient physical activity. The campaign was first held in 2019 as part of the Swiss project "Effective Management and Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in Kyrgyzstan." Given its success and impact, the Ministry of Health issued an order to conduct the month-long campaign annually in February nationwide starting from 2023.
