Some 5,500 people will be interviewed about their health and lifestyle over the coming weeks in a major survey which will provide policy makers with the necessary information to take policy decisions on health prevention and healthcare services.

Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar said the survey results will also provide important statistics, identify any health inequalities in Malta as well as allow for comparative studies with other countries.

"The survey aims to provide an unbiased holistic insight to the nationwide burden of chronic physical and mental conditions and their resulting morbidity as well as to investigate the knowledge of behaviours of the Maltese population when it comes to health," he said.

Dr Cassar explained that the information will be collected through interviews with a randomly-picked sample of the population.

Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, director general for strategy and sustainability within the Social Policy Ministry, pointed out that preventive measures should ideally be based on locally-collected data.

The survey will be divided into two parts – a face-to-face interview and a written questionnaire for the more delicate details. Confidentiality will be assured, even for the face-to-face interviews. The survey will focus on a number of areas, including the interviewee’s perceived health, general attitudes toward health, medicine consumption, chronic conditions and symptoms, physical activity, food consumption, sexual health and quality of life.

The survey will be conducted by the Directorate for Health Information and Research.