Earlier, interest-free loans were announced for Emiratis whose businesses were affected by the rains, with a grace period of 6 to 12 months
uae4 hours ago
Craving junk food? You can have some from the health ministry's new vending machine - but you'll have to ride the exercise cycle connected to it and burn enough calories to get one.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) is raising awareness on how obesity affects the heart, and the campaign appears to be working as a lot of people who tried the cycle ended up not eating the junk that came out of the machine.
"Most people do not consume the junk food since they have put in so much effort in exercising," a ministry official said.
The machine can be used for one, three, five and 10 minutes, and it works based on the effort one puts in, the official added.
"For a minute of exercise, the machine will throw out a water bottle because that is hardly any calories." Eight calories are burnt in one minute, 23 in three, 53 in five, and 78 in 10 minutes.
For the maximum number of calories burnt, the return is junk food, either a small packet of chips, a tiny cookie, or a small juice box.
"The idea is to tell people that for all the junk they are eating, this is the amount of time it takes to burn the calories they pile on," said the official.
The user does not have to pay for exercising.
Currently, only one machine is installed at the headquarters of Mohap. But after Ramadan, more machines will be set up at the 17 hospitals that fall under the ministry.
They will be run on rotational basis for two weeks.
The initiative was launched in collaboration with Pfizer, under the 'Keep On Beating' campaign that aims to encourage people to make positive lifestyle changes.
The campaign also aims to detect cardiovascular disease-related risk factors - including smoking, malnutrition, inactivity and stress - and promote public awareness.
In addition, the initiative covers training programmes for medical teams, as well as the development of an innovative system to bolster patients' self-care.
Dr Yousif Al Serkal, assistant undersecretary for the hospitals sector, said: "Reducing cardiovascular disease-related mortality is a top priority under National Agenda 2021."
"We also urge healthcare providers to pursue their efforts in educating patients about risk factors and further engage them in taking care of their health," Al Serkal said.
The public awareness pillar has been officially kicked off on May 1.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
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