DHA and DecideTM conducts over 1000 blood sugar screenings during the Al Multaqa Ramadan Forum at DWTC

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and DecideTM have conducted around 8000 blood sugar screening activities at various establishments such as hospitals, organisations, several events and clubs in the UAE

Dubai, UAE, August 31st, 2013: Dubai Health Authority (DHA), together with DecideTM Diabetes Programme, supported by its partners Lifescan, Merck Serono and MPC, conducted over 1000 blood sugar screenings during the Al Multaqa Ramadan Forum. The Ramadan Forum was being held under the patronage of the Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and organised by Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). This 12-day Ramadan forum was held at the Zabeel Hall at Dubai World Trade Center. At this event DHA and DecideTM Diabetes Programme have continued their drive to educate the community with regard to Diabetes prevention and management.

Dr. Wafaa Helmi Ayesh, Director of Clinical Nutrition Department, DHA stated that, “People will be less prone to diabetes and other health-related diseases when they are given the right information on the benefits of healthy living, which mainly includes proper nutrition and an active lifestyle. This was a great platform for DHA and DecideTM to provide guidelines for healthy fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. We have been conducting these screening campaigns along with Decide across UAE since 2011 and we aim to reach out more people this year. We are glad that we were able to reach and educate over 1000 people in 12 days. We, at DHA, are committed to the well-being of the residents in the UAE and we aim to share our wealth of experience and knowledge through these events.”

Dr.Sami Mana Ahmad, community medicine specialist at DHA stated that, “We at DHA are involved with several community services connecting with people.  During the month of Ramadan we have already undertaken initiatives to encourage people to quit the smoking habit as people abstain from smoking for almost 15 hours during Ramadan.  This was a great forum for us to get in touch with people and educate them on how to lead a healthy lifestyle not only during Ramadan but through-out their life.”

Decide™ not only seeks to educate people affected by diabetes, but is also involved in helping family members understand how they can better support those who live with the condition. This is attained through promoting healthy eating habits, encouraging physical exercise and overall management and monitoring of the various areas of the body that can be impacted by diabetes.

Aboul Khoudoud, Decide Diabetes Programme Director, said, in this Ramadan occasion “A special “Fit to Fast” booklet has been developed by DHA's Clinical Nutrition Department in collaboration with Decide Diabetes Support Programme for type 2 diabetic patients to fast safely. During this event we monitored blood sugar levels for all participants and we provided them with “Fit to Fast” booklet, which has the right advice that people can follow during the Holy month of Ramadan and thereby become more aware of their personal health.

This “Fit to Fast” booklet can be collected from DHA's primary healthcare centers in Dubai or they can be downloaded from www.decidecommunity.com and viewed on DecideTM Facebook page.

“Even before reaching the stage of getting diabetes, it can be prevented by self discipline such as adopting a healthy lifestyle, especially watching how much you eat and exercising every day to help prevent diabetes and other medical conditions. People need to prepare themselves during the holy month of Ramadan and bring in a lot of discipline into their lifestyle as the body goes into a different mode. We are thankful to DTCM for providing us with the opportunity to share our wealth of knowledge together” added Wadad.

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and DecideTM have conducted around 8000 blood sugar screening activities at various establishments such as hospitals, organisations and clubs in the UAE since September 2011 to raise awareness on diabetes prevention and management.