For the first time in Moldova there will be made a national study of the risk factors of non-transmitted chronic disease (STEPS). About 6,000 households selected at random will be visited by doctors in October – November.

Contacted by IPN, Deputy Minister of Health Svetlana Cotelea said the doctors will measure the height, weight, blood pressure and pulse of the persons. They will also take blood samples from them to determine the content of glucose and lipids. The results will be confidential. The data will be collected electronically and the picture will be compared with the situation in other states.

According to Svetlana Cotelea, there are now no exact figures about the real number of smokers or the nutrition method of people, but this study will offer the possibility of obtaining such data. The STEPS will be a starting point for other activities aimed at supervising and controlling non-transmitted chronic diseases.

STEPS is a global initiative of the World Health Organization that is implemented in Moldova by the National Public Health Center with technical support from the WHO and with financial support from the EU.

The Ministry of Health calls on the population to accept to take part in the study. The samples will be taken by family doctors who will present a permit from the workplace.