DHA’s Twitter clinic completes one year

The Dubai Health Authority’s weekly live Twitter clinic has successfully completed one year, with 14,000 followers.

The initiative saw 45 clinic sessions over a span of one year, during which 120 doctors were hosted and an average of 60 tweets were posted per clinic.

The authority (DHA) began this initiative during the holy month of Ramadan last year to provide fasting people with heath tips.

After the success of the initiative, the DHA extended this programme and held live Twitter clinics every Thursday for two hours from 10am. Every week, a team of health experts discuss different topics related to health and well-being.

During the live clinic, known as #smart_clinic, residents respond to the topic being discussed by posting their queries on @DHA_Dubai and the DHA team of doctors provide on-the-spot response as well as several health tips and dos and don’ts to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Ghanim Lootah, director of marketing and communications at the DHA, said: “The initial response we received during the Twitter clinic that was held for the holy month of Ramadan last year was outstanding. We realised that people appreciated immediate responses to their queries and the answers were provided by experts in the field. For people with very specific queries, we advised them to visit a specialist but overall we were able to disseminate important health tips and information that is useful for a large audience.”

He said the DHA is the first government entity in the UAE to begin this initiative.

The DHA is keen to utilize Twitter as a medium for health promotion and considers it to be a vital a tool to disseminate tips for a healthy lifestyle.

Lootah said the clinic has discussed several important health topics including back-to-school tips for parents, tips for diabetics, oral health for children, vaccinations etc.

The next Twitter clinic will take place on July 17, and DHA will provide Twitter followers with information about geriatric care and advice on how to take care of elderly patients at home.

For further information on the Twitter clinic, do tweet your queries to @DHA_Dubai.

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