Dubai, United Arab Emirates, The Department of Public Health at the Dubai Health Authority announced today at the ongoing Arab Health Congress that it will organise a competition for community members to help improve their health and wellbeing.
Dr. Ramadan Al Blooshi, Advisor to the Director-General and Acting Director of the Public Health Department at the DHA said: “The aim of the initiative is to engage the public at a community level to adopt simple but effective lifestyle habits that will directly improve their health and wellbeing. Using the power of community and guiding them with screening, healthy habits and challenges we hope to empower community members to take charge of their lifestyle and improve their health.”
Residents will soon be able to join the competition by registering through DHA’s website( www.dha.gov.ae) till the holy month of Ramadan.
Dr Hend Al Awadhi, head of health promotion and education at the DHA, said that the competition known as “Health and Happiness” is aimed at empowering the community to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Residents aged 18 and above can participate in it in either an individual or a single-family category. During the competition, candidates can take tests at any healthcare facility across Dubai.
Registration for the competition will begin in the middle of February, and residents will be able to join by registering through DHA’s website till the holy month of Ramadan. The competition will run till the end of the year.
“We are mainly focusing on three categories – level of activity, measuring BMI and measuring early screening detection. We will have follow-ups after every three months to see how candidates are doing and whether they have any questions about health and competition,” said Dr Al Awadhi.
As part of the competition, the candidates will undergo screening, BMI measurement, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol checkups and mental health screening.
“We will also check how active people are in terms of carrying out their exercise. At the end of the year, we will evaluate all the candidates and score them based on these criteria and announce the winner at the next edition of Arab Health,” she added.
The Dubai Health Authority plans to make it an annual feature for the emirate’s residents to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Source: Dubai Health Authority