Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The health status of 97.4 percent of the Saudi population, aged 15 and above, was rated as good or higher, according to the 2024 Health Status Statistics Bulletin, issued on Thursday by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The results of the bulletin showed that 18.95 percent of adults, aged 15 and above, had a chronic disease, and the most prominent chronic diseases were diabetes 9.1 percent, blood pressure 7.9 percent, cholesterol 3.6 percent, heart and arterial diseases 1.5 percent, and cancer 0.6 percent.

Among the children, under the age of 15, the percentage of those suffering from a chronic disease was 9.4 , and the most prominent chronic diseases were identified as asthma 4.1 percent, allergies 2 percent, skin diseases 1.6 percent, hyperactivity 0.8 percent, autism 0.6 percent, diabetes 0.5 percent, and cancer 0.3 percent.

The results of the bulletin showed that the percentage of adults, 15 years and above, who suffer from severe depression reached 1.8, and it was 2.5 percent among females compared to 1.4 percent among males, while the percentage of those suffering from severe anxiety reached 0.2, and it was 0.4 percent among females compared to 0.2 percent among males.

It is noteworthy that the Health Statistics Bulletin for Adults and Children reviews indicators based on self-reporting of individuals from the results of the National Health Survey, the Women and Child Health Survey for 2024, and population estimates from the GASTAT for 2024.