Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes have prevailed among the population for the past 20 years and remain one of the most pressing public health issues. Two times of missions to Mongolia conducted by the UN Interagency Task Force on NCD prevention and control in 2015 and 2016 reported that 77 per cent of all deaths are due to NCDs and over 70 per cent of the health sector budget were spent on high cost diagnostic and treatment of NCDs at chronic and late stages.
NCDs are preventable and can be detected early, and key NCD risk factors can be monitored based on the primary source of data - a nationwide cross–sectional STEPS survey. Mongolia completed its 4th National STEPS survey in 2019 by utilizing the WHO STEPS Surveillance manual (2017) with co-funding support from the Ministry of Health and WHO. The survey was carried out in 9 district and 21 provinces covering a sample size of 6,654. A handover ceremony of the survey report took place on 29 June 2020 in Ulaanbaatar.
Congratulating the Government of Mongolia and the Ministry of Health for successfully conducting the survey, WHO Representative to Mongolia Dr Sergey Diorditsa said, “It was a clear demonstration of the ownership of the Government, particularly the leadership of Minister of Health Ms D.Sarangerel for the provision of funding to conduct of the survey through its Health Promotion Funds. It is commendable to see that the National Center for Public Health demonstrated that it has a full capacity and experience to carry out nationwide public health surveillance and researches like the STEPS survey. I firmly believe this survey result produces a hard evidence to track the magnitude of NCD risk factor exposures and to report on key indicators for NCD prevention and control in the country”.
Minister of Health Ms D.Sarangerel, having congratulated the National Center for Public for successfully carrying out Mongolia’s 4th round of STEPS survey since the conduct of the first one in 2005, emphasized WHO’s continuous technical and financial support throughout the four surveys and stated that the health sector policy should direct towards preventing risks of developing noncommunicable diseases which are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality of the population and taking actions based on evidences such as the STEPS survey results and also allocating the required funds from the state budget to enable conducting of necessary research and survey work and implement policy measures.
There are new aspects in the 4th STEPS survey. The survey data is more detailed as the results are compared across regions of the country. The survey database is also created using the WHO “eSTEPS” programme adapted to the local context. In addition, the Government of Mongolia and the Ministry of Health covered over 70 per cent of the total expense, through the “Health Promotion Fund”, for the first time.
Based on WHO’s recommendation for Member States to conduct the STEPS survey every 4-5 years, Mongolia has carried out the survey in 2005 and 2009 with technical and financial support from WHO and in 2013, with support from WHO and the Millennium Challenge Account – Mongolia.