Facing the reality of such a health challenge at the age of 32 was unimaginable for her
“This will include all the shisha cafes where indoors smoking is highly unhealthy,” said Nouf Khamis, health educator at the ministry.
In the meantime, MOH is launching a two-month tobacco awareness campaign starting from September, targeting school children in the age group of 10 to 18 years.
“The campaign will be run through mass media, social networks and visits to schools,” Khamis told Khaleej Times. According to John Hopkins International Health Researchers, tobacco kills five million people each year and 20 per cent of men over 40 years die because of tobacco annually. This includes second hand smoking, which is as harmful as lighting up yourself. In the UAE, there seems to be little awareness about the issue since many parents are still seen with small children and even infants, spending hours in shisha cafes, especially during Ramadan evenings.
“That is why we will have special campaigns during Ramadan about smoking, food and lifestyle,” said Nasser Khalifa Al Budoor, assistant under-secretary, International Relations and Health Affairs at the ministry.
“Because they are fasting all day, people tend to smoke and eat a lot more during Ramadan, which is unhealthy. Besides, Ramadan is not about night feasting, but about controlling your food intake and cleansing your body.”
The Ramadan and other campaigns by the ministry were revealed recently by Al Budoor during a GCC meeting in Abu Dhabi regarding health education. A new TV health awareness programme, “Salamtak”, was announced during the meeting. It will be broadcast throughout the Gulf countries and will focus on family health problems.
“Diabetes remains the biggest health issue in the UAE, but all our awareness programmes are helping and cases are reducing,” mentioned Al Budoor.
“We’ve distributed brochures about it. We are also sending SMS messages, working with Du. We are about to partner with Etisalat and Blackberry, too, in addition to raising health topics through our Twitter and Facebook pages.”
Yet another campaign, focusing on the healthy heart, will also start in September, running till December. This time it will target companies and work places, focusing on healthy diets, physical activities, stress management and smoking. Employees will also receive full health screenings and individual health advice.
Facing the reality of such a health challenge at the age of 32 was unimaginable for her
Youssef Al Feel, along with his brothers and cousins, managed to break the windows and enter flooded houses — moving people to safety for an entire day
Guardiola's team will be crowned champions for an unprecedented fourth successive season if they win their last five matches
A qualified engineer, CP Rizwan is a technically correct batsman who can also take wickets with his part-time spin
The defeats are a jolt to a full-strength Pakistan side in their preparations for the Twenty20 World Cup
With his famous stepfather Tommy Fleetwood on his bag, Dubai’s Oscar Craig shoots a promising first round 69
Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh bag four key wickets to secure a 35-run victory in Hyderabad
The patient had endured years of severe pain and debilitating health complications due to the tumour