The Health Minister, Dr. Atonio Lalabalavu, announced that a year-long survey conducted at 107 workplaces identified heart attacks as the leading cause of death, along with obesity and high blood pressure risks. In his address to Parliament, Dr. Atonio noted that the study assessed 3,456 participants and was a collaboration between the Ministry of Health and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
He revealed that the national policy on healthy catering and food and beverage practices in all government ministries and institutions was launched by the Prime Minister on February 14, 2024. The Cabinet has approved the adoption and implementation of this new policy, which replaces the previous healthy catering guidelines established in 2017.
The survey findings highlighted that 50% of the workers assessed were obese, with 32% suffering from high blood pressure, including 5% classified as having severe hypertension. Dr. Atonio emphasized that the new policy represents a significant effort to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Fiji, aiming to reduce the prevalence of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which are major contributors to illness and death in the country.
Additionally, the survey indicated that 60% of participants aged 20 to 25 were at high risk of developing NCDs, and 31% faced an increased risk of heart disease in the future. These results align with the national disease burden and findings from the 2021 food system and nutrition survey as well as the multi-indicator cluster survey conducted in 2021.