Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Plan (NCD-PCP) for Lebanon.

This Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Plan is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at coordinating activities for all sectors to ultimately control risk factors and reduce the morbidity, mortality and economic burden of NCDs. The document proposes a set of strategic objectives specifically tailored for Lebanon, largely inspired by the WHO Global Action for NCD Prevention and Control. The Vision at the basis of this document is the importance of multisector approach in addressing NCD prevention and control, consequentially non-health sectors and non-governmental stakeholders are invited to play a major role in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH).
The Plan establishes the 5 Lebanese Strategic Objectives (LSOs): LSO1 focused on governance includes the following interventions (i) strengthen the institutional capacity of the MOPH to mobilize resources, build partnerships, develop the program, and monitor implementation; (ii) create a national consensus to endorse the final version of the plan as national policy document by non-health stakeholders; (iii) create a consultative structure to support NCD prevention and control policies; LSO2 focused on primary NCD prevention includes the following interventions (i) promote behavioral change to healthier lifestyles, with particular attention to three major areas of exposure: tobacco use, unhealthy diets and insufficient physical activity; (ii) create a concentrated time for the promotion for healthier lifestyles; (iii) limit the import, fabrication and marketing of harmful products, such as consumer items high in salt, empty calories and trans-fats; (iv) promote "healthy schools" interventions; (v) enforce smoking ban laws; (vi) work with municipalities to promote healthy city/village environments; LS03 focused on preventive activities at all levels of health care includes the following interventions (i) identify standards for primary and secondary prevention; (ii) identify standards for tertiary prevention aiming at avoiding complications in routine management guidelines; (iii) monitor the adherence to standards by physicians and staff; LSO4 focused on the promotion of quality NCD research includes the following interventions (i) collaborate with CNRS; (ii) facilitate the access of researchers to raw data; (iii) promote the translation of research results into policy briefs; LSO5 focused on the development of surveillance systems includes the following interventions (i) establish a "captive population" for passive surveillance of NCD trends and their social and behavioral determinants; (ii) create registries for specific NCD entities; (iii) establish a pathway for mortality data; (iv) integrate NCD morbidity-mortality surveillance data within the MOPH.