Dubai: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) in collaboration with the Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC) will launch a Dubai Household Health Survey (DHHS) on February 6.

The DHHS survey, which is taking place in the emirate for the third time, is the most comprehensive health survey in Dubai to date as it will cover 3,000 families or 9,000 individuals. The survey was first conducted in 2009.

Humaid Al Qutami, director general of the DHA, said: “The survey is in line with the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as it is a tool that will help us create a happy and healthy community. It is in line with the Dubai Health Strategy 2016-2021 that emphasises on the need to foster and develop research in healthcare. The aim of the survey is to understand the needs of Dubai’s nationals and residents so that we can meet these needs by devising policies and processes after evidence-based data collection.”

“The survey will help us to identify strengths and gaps in the healthcare system so that we can undertake measures that are in line with our goal of providing accessible, high-quality healthcare to our population,” Al Qutami added.

More than 75 surveyors and 25 nurses will take part in the survey.

Over the next six or seven weeks, the survey team will randomly select Emirati and expatriate households to carry out the health survey. Surveyors will visit households to obtain detailed information on issues such as health spending, healthcare utilisation, health status and treatment abroad.

The survey will include Emiratis and expatriates, and will take into consideration children, adults, elderly and labourers in Dubai to get a holistic view of the healthcare status and healthcare needs of the community.

The survey will provide a unique and unprecedented assessment of issues concerning health and healthcare in Dubai and the results of the survey will be analysed over the next two months.

Surveyors will randomly select households across Dubai and obtain detailed responses to several healthcare issues ranging from immunisation coverage, health coverage, household expenditure on health by families and childhood vaccinations. It will also cover questions relating to their overall physical health including daily physical activity, chronic conditions including whether respondents have experienced symptoms for diseases such as arthritis, high blood cholesterol, elevated blood lipids, diabetes and asthma.

The survey will also check whether the respondents have visited a healthcare facility and conducted medical tests over the last 30 days as well as medications they are currently taking.

Additionally, the survey will also take into account hospitalisation during the last 12 months, reasons for hospitalisation, any operation undertaken during that period and satisfaction level with the healthcare services provided.

A series of questions related to mental health will also be covered.