Qatar Foundation supports Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar in promoting Your Health First campaign
June, 2013
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is seeking to promote a wider understanding of critical health issues by extending its support to the Sahtak Awalan; Your Health First campaign, and to ensure maximum community outreach.
In keeping with its mission to develop a culture of medical research and knowledge, Qatar Foundation is committed to supporting Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar’s (WCMC-Q) ongoing campaign by communicating preventive measures that can effectively reduce the number of people suffering from debilitating diseases.
The five-year educational campaign targets all segments of society, with a particular focus on influencing young people between 10 and 25 years of age to make healthy lifestyle choices. With the shared objective of enhancing the quality of healthcare across the population, Qatar Foundation is eager to reinforce and facilitate WCMC-Q efforts by encouraging youth to take positive action to get fit and stay healthy.
Rashed Al-Qurese, Qatar Foundation’s Deputy Director of Communication, said: “Both Qatar Foundation and WCMC-Q aim to create widespread awareness by educating and inspiring the community to make positive lifestyle choices that can go a long way towards preventing many of our modern-day ailments. This objective is perfectly aligned with our mission to support youth and to provide them with the highest standards of education and healthcare.”
WCMC-Q consistently strives to implement quality healthcare concepts that can enhance the public’s understanding of modern-day diseases. Dr Javaid Sheikh, Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, welcomed the support provided by Qatar Foundation and underlined the importance of sharing the campaign’s focal message with a wider audience.
“Qatar Foundation is a natural partner for the college’s Sahtak Awalan campaign, as we are already partners in so many other ways,” he said. “WCMC-Q is passionate about fulfilling its commitment to the public to improve healthcare both now and for future generations and I know that Qatar Foundation is equally committed to improving the lives of everyone in Qatar. Together we can have a huge impact and help propel Qatar forward to the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.”
The initiative, which was launched in June of last year by His Excellency Abdulla Bin Khalid Al Qahtani, Minister of Public Health and Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Health, comprises several stages. In the first phase, the community is introduced to issues related to public health, particularly healthy practices and the importance of physical activity and diet. Subsequent phases will address a number of medical issues such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, bone diseases, rheumatism, anxiety, and sleep disorders.
The initiative is being run in conjunction with several strategic partners including the Supreme Council of Health, the Supreme Education Council, Qatar Petroleum, Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd., ExxonMobil, Vodafone Qatar and Qatar Olympic Committee. The Your Health First campaign is expected to conclude with the completion of the National Health Strategy in 2016.
