Efforts to curb the prevalence of non-communicable diseases will begin in earnest next month with the commencement of Bermuda’s first standardised national health survey.Chronic, preventable diseases “contribute the greatest proportion of the total burden of disease in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Bermuda”, said Health and Seniors Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin yesterday, announcing the start of the “STEPs to a Well Bermuda” survey.By implementing a “simple, standardised method for collecting, analysing and disseminating data for chronic disease risk factors”, healthcare providers will have access to “information on the prevalence of various health conditions and physical and biochemical characteristics of a population”. The survey will also “provide data on the relationship between the risk factors and selected conditions, and social determinants of health,” said the Health and Seniors Minister.The Minister added: “Effective action to prevent and control these diseases depends on timely access to accurate and reliable information about the prevalence of these diseases and their associated risk factors. This information is vital to both informing where resources should best be targeted and also for monitoring and evaluating the impact of any actions taken.”The objective of the STEPs survey — the Pan American Health Organisation’s standardised methodology — is to control “epidemics of chronic diseases” and “avert these epidemics wherever possible and to control them as quickly as possible where they are already present,” said Minister Gordon-Pamplin.The Minister added: “The basis of chronic disease prevention is the identification of the major common risk factors as the risk factors of today are the diseases of tomorrow.”A total of 2,656 households have been selected using simple random sampling, while interviews will be conducted from October through December.