The Arabian Public Health Forum will take place for its second year running. Building on the success of 2010, the Arabian Public Health Forum 2011 reinforces its philosophy of the importance of working together with the community for the integrated prevention and control of chronic diseases in the UAE and the region at large.
Supported by the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD), Abu Dhabi Health services (SEHA), Emirates Nursing Association (ENA) and Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), the event provides the perfect platform in bringing key stakeholders in the public healthcare arena together to discuss the impact of chronic diseases on the population in the Middle East.
Sponsored by GE Healthcare, the event hosts key speakers passionate about spreading the word including Dr Mahmoud Fikri, Asst Undersecretary for Health Policies Affair, Ministry of Health UAE, Dr. Oliver Harrison, Director Public Health and Policy, Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD), Amira Wali, Director of Public Health and Communications Corniche Hospital – Abu Dhabi, and Dr. Abdelrahim Gaffar, Assistant Professor – Family and Community Med. Faculty of Medicine Jazan University to name a few.
Edmund O’Sullivan, Chairman, MEED Events said, “This event was started to bring together and engage key stakeholders in the public healthcare industry, build partnerships and together forge a community dedicated to preventative measures against chronic diseases in the region. This was successfully achieved in 2010 and we are going to build on that success in 2011”.
The Forum provides the latest research statistics and views on the Middle East public health sector and explores future public health agendas and policies, allocated health budgets and vital medial research information and will be covering important topics such as ‘Lifestyle health change behavior as a preventative method in the role of obesity – diabetes – A particular important topic in this part of the world where diabetes is still on the increase.
O’Sullivan continued, “It is so important to keep public health top of mind within the region and local community. We are already seeing changes within the community with the Dubai government’s recent announcement that all fast foods are banned from schools providing school lunches. This is a great step forward and clear that forums such as this one are so important to continuing to spread the word”.
Background, lifestyle and environment are likely to increase a person’s risk of certain NCDs. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that tobacco use accounts for 5 million deaths and obesity account for 2.8 million deaths, with high cholesterol accounting for roughly 2.6 million deaths and 7.5 million die because of high blood pressure.
O’Sullivan further added, “According to the WHO, 2030 will see deaths by chronic NCDs likely to increase to 52 million per year. Infectious diseases, material and perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies are expected to decline by 7 million per year during the same period. This clearly demonstrates that more education penetration is required in order to bring these high NCD numbers down”.
O’Sullivan concluded, “Treating NCDs places a huge financial pressure on governments and local authorities, so through education we can lead prevention which is less expensive than trying to cure – plus it also saves lives”.
The Arabian Public Health Forum will take place at the Yas Island Rotana, Abu Dhabi from 26th to 27th September.
