Understanding of the role of surveillance in Health Promotion for NCDs among Georgians

Background: Recognizing the need to build local capacity for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and having a skilled workforce is an important strategy to implement the policy changes necessary to reduce the burden of NCDs. Indicators of tobacco smoking, alcohol consump on and drug abuse are s ll very high among Georgians. Nine out of ten deaths are a ributed to cardio-vascular diseases (CVD), cancer and injuries, the majority of which are caused by unhealthy behaviors. There is a very unclear understanding of health promo on (HP) approaches as a best opportunity to impact on NCDs and their risk factors even among Georgian professionals and more at the popula on level. The present study is the first effort to iden fy gaps, requirements and opportuni es in the health- promo on communica on system in Georgia, in order to iden fy the needs of capacity building for NCDs and their risk factors. Purpose: The Health Promo on Capacity Assessment aimed to evaluate the current health promo on system in Georgia. It covers the following issues: quality of health promo on/communica on and disease  preven on services, access to services, resources, health-promo on informa on/ communica on system and health-promo on financing. Its specific aims were (1) To iden fy the shor alls, requirements and opportuni es in health-promo on communica on through quan ta ve and qualita ve research; and (2) To define and analyze healthcare workers' knowledge, a tude and prac ce (KAP) related to health promo on/communica on aspects, the level of the professional development and requirements for their future training/retraining