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WCM-Q webinar series enhances community awareness of key health issues

Speakers of the newly launched WCM-Q Health and YOU webinar series.
Speakers of the newly launched WCM-Q Health and YOU webinar series.

A new webinar series launched by the Institute for Population Health (IPH) of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) is raising awareness on a wide range of key health matters to enhance self-care, improve quality of life, reduce illness, and ultimately increase the healthy lifespan of individuals.

The webinar series, titled ‘Health and YOU’ features the most pressing health issues facing communities around the world today, and explains how to optimize health through careful lifestyle healthy choices, self-care, and use of evidence-based actions. The topics covered in the series are carefully chosen – based on research conducted by the IPH and community needs – to address the most relevant health issues to the community in Qatar and the wider region. More than 1,000 participants have participated in the webinars since the launch of the series.

Dr. Ravinder Mamtani, Professor of Population Health Sciences, Professor of Medicine (Center for Global Health) and Vice Dean for Population Health and Lifestyle Medicine at WCM-Q presented a session titled ‘Taking Charge to Better Your Health’. He spoke on the contemporary culture of health and disease, and presented evidence-based information on self-care. 

Other beneficial topics of interest to the community presented in the series include the impact of sleep on health by Dr. Shahrad Taheri; how to maintain healthy habits over the long term, by Dr. Fatimah Isa; the keys to a healthy diet, also by Dr. Mamtani; a guide to recognizing different causes of chest pain, presented by Dr. Islam Elgendy; the role of exercise in health, by Dr. Sathyanarayanan Doraiswamy; and causes of runny nose in children, by Dr. Amal Khidir.

Dr. Sohaila Cheema, Associate Professor of Clinical Population Health Sciences and Assistant Dean, IPH gave a presentation titled ‘The Secrets of Longevity’, in which she examined hotspots of longevity around the world. In these areas, she explained, people typically live well into their nineties and have lower incidence of chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, depression, diabetes and obesity, compared to other places. What these communities have in common is a very healthy diet, a strong sense of community, a habit of regular activity, and low levels of stress.

The webinars are streamed live each month and are then posted in the IPH section of the WCM-Q website where they can be accessed freely. For more information and to watch the videos, visit https://qatar-weill.cornell.edu/institute-for-population-health/health-and-you/archive