08 December 2022 17:30

Portal promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition launched

On December 8, 2022, an event called "Toward a healthy weight" was held at the initiative of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance (Agency) and with the support of the Novo Nordisk company. The event was centered around the presentation of an online platform created with the aim of preventing excess weight and raising awareness among the population on healthy nutrition. 

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance Zaur Aliyev opened the event with a speech in which he said that the number of people suffering from diseases caused by excess weight is increasing in our country as well as in the world: "Excess weight also causes diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular, gastro-intestinal, and other diseases. For example, compared to 2020, the number of patients suffering from diabetes increased by 18% last year. As of January of this year, 306,219 people living with diabetes have been registered in the country. One of the main duties of healthcare facilities in the field of health protection is raising the awareness of the population concerning disease prevention. Based on the experience of developed countries, one of the ways to prevent diseases is by promoting physical activity, as well as giving advice on avoiding harmful addictions and unhealthy food.”

Zaur Aliyev added that the Agency worked to promote a healthy lifestyle by implementing a number of projects in this field together with the local representative office of the Novo Nordisk company, its international partner.

Rana Azfar Zafar, Vice-President of the Danish company Novo Nordisk, made a speech and shared information about the company. He noted that Novo Nordisk operates in 75 countries around the world. In 170 countries, there are 30 million people living with diabetes who use the company's products, which means that approximately 50% of the demand for insulin is supplied by the company.

“For nearly 100 years, Novo Nordisk has been addressing the medical needs of people living with serious chronic diseases through innovative medicines and digital health solutions. Today, treatment with our products benefits millions of people living with diabetes, obesity, and rare diseases of blood and endocrine systems. These serious chronic diseases affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide and have become one of the most pressing health problems. Novo Nordisk also invests in chronic disease prevention. The main factor driving the company's cooperation with various institutions is the attempt to achieve positive changes in accordance with its concepts of diabetes, obesity and other serious chronic diseases,”— he said.

Danny Annan, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Turkey and Azerbaijan, said that the activities of the Novo Nordisk company in Azerbaijan contribute to the strengthening of relations between the two countries. According to him, continuous commercial relations and cooperation in the field of health make both countries strong. The Ambassador noted that he will spare no efforts in developing and expanding economic and commercial relations between the countries.

Stating that the number of people suffering from excessive weight and obesity in the world is increasing yearly, Ahliman Amiraslanov, the Chairman of the Health Committee of the Parliament, said that this problem that causes many diseases is also widespread among children. The chairman of the committee highly appreciated the measures taken by the Agency in educating the population about the problem of excess weight. The member of parliament said that the Health Committee – of which he is the head – will continue to work for the improvement of legislative acts in the field of public health protection.

According to Vugar Gurbanov, Executive Director of TABIB, the organization’s priorities include the promotion of physical activity among the population, increased public attention to the fight against diabetes in the country, and the encouragement of people to lead healthy lifestyles. Referring to the latest statistics of the State Statistics Committee, V.Gurbanov said that 30-60% of people of reproductive age in our country are overweight and that 25-27% are obese. He emphasized the importance of cooperation between the relevant state authorities in the fight against diseases caused by excess weight.

Then Volkan Yumuk, Professor of Diabetology, Endocrinology, and Metabolism at Istanbul University Jerrahpasha Faculty of Medicine delivered a presentation titled "Effective management of obesity: experience of Turkey." Sabina Babazadeh, head of the Project Coordination Department of the Public Health and Reforms Center (PHRC), gave a presentation called "Survey on the study of health habits among school-aged children." Narmin Ismayilova, Director of the Republican Endocrinology Center, gave a presentation called "Obesity and Diabetes: Two Pandemics of the World."

It should be noted that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Agency, TABIB, and the representative office of Novo Nordisk in Azerbaijan. According to the document, there are plans to implement joint measures for the management of diabetes and obesity in Azerbaijan, as well as the treatment of rare diseases (e.g., growth hormone deficiency, hemophilia).

The portal promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition (saglamceki.az) will be launched in 2023.