Under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, His Excellency the Vice Minister of Health for Health Affairs, Dr. Mansour Naser Al-Howasi, has launched today (Monday) 9/9/2013 (corresponding to 3/11/1434H) the National Campaign to Promote the Healthy Lifestyles in the Kingdom, carried out by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in cooperation with Tamer group under the title, (Take Care…Your Life Is More Important).
His Excellency Dr. Al-Howasi stressed that this campaign comes within the framework of cooperation between the MOH and the private health sector in order to bring benefit to the citizens, adding that the private sector is the main partner of the Ministry in the provision of health services.
Dr. Al-Howasi focused also on the importance of holding strategic partnerships with the private sector in order to provide better health services for the patients, pointing out that the role of the private sector should be exploited in the promotion of health services through the programs sponsored by the Ministry.
Within the same vein, Dr. Al-Howasi underscored that the recent increase in the rates of chronic diseases requires us to stand side-by-side to confront such diseases as well as exerting our utmost efforts to prevent and reduce infection rates, adding that the Ministry acknowledged early the importance of confronting such diseases, as many activities and awareness programs were launched with the aim of informing all members of the community of such diseases, raising their health awareness, and focusing on health promotion programs that contribute to spreading awareness of these diseases and reducing their prevalence.
For his part, The Supervisor General of MOH's Media, Relations and Health Awareness, Dr. Khalid bin Muhammad Marghalani said that the theme of the campaign (Take Care…Your Life Is More Important) was chosen to urge the target groups to pay attention to their health for the protection against the chronic diseases and to follow up healthy patterns.
Dr. Marghalani added that the campaign aims to raise the proportion of knowledge, change attitudes towards the chronic diseases in the Kingdom, including the unhealthy practices, and encourage the adoption of healthy behaviors among community groups. Also, the campaign aims to spread awareness of the health problems in the light of the growing number of chronic diseases, with an emphasis on the importance of following up healthy and proper patterns to enjoy better health, more importantly, healthy nutrition, physical activity, and adoption of healthy practices and behaviors.
Moreover, Dr. Marghalani said that the Ministry has launched the (National Campaign to Promote the Healthy Lifestyles); in order to support efforts that target reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases, through spreading awareness of the factors of such diseases, more importantly, physical inactivity, excessive intake of foods that are high in fat, sugars and salt, and tobacco use. In addition, the campaign focuses on the factors that prevent catching such diseases, including the nutritional balance and physical activity.
Within the same vein, Dr. Marghalani mentioned some figures and proportions of the campaign, which show the seriousness of these diseases, for example, the rate of diabetes prevalence amid the people aging 30 years and above is 28%, while the rate of hypertension prevalence is 21%.
Dr. Marghalani added that the heart and vascular diseases are a leading cause of death and disability in the Kingdom; where the proportion of the related fatalities is estimated by 22%, pointing out that the campaign was launched according to methodological frameworks that seek to provide health messages for the target groups. The campaign will also launch an awareness campaign through a number of satellite channels and radio stations; along with another electronic comprehensive campaign where social media and websites will be used.
Dr. Marghalani has extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the Minister of Health for his continued and permanent support for the awareness-raising efforts. Dr. Marghalani also expressed thanks to His Excellency the Vice Minister of Health for Health Affairs, Dr. Mansour Naser Al-Howasi, for his permanent support for awareness-raising activities carried out by the Ministry.
For his part, Mr. Ayman Ma'moun Tamer, the CEO of Tamer group, said that this campaign comes within the framework of the partnership held between the group and the Ministry of Health, pointing out that Tamer group seeks to participate with the Ministry in the implementation of an awareness campaign that aims at providing health education messages for the target groups.