ALDAR and HealthPlus host a diabetes awareness event offering free health checkups for visitors supported by Abu Dhabi Business Women Council
As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) joint initiatives towards a healthy community, HealthPlus & Aldar Properties launched a diabetes awareness event on the evening of 14 June 2013 at the The Souk – World Trade Center Abu Dhabi. This initiative follows a series of campaigns and health talks that HealthPlus and Aldar organized during the year 2012.
Studies have shown that in recent years, a rise in type 2 diabetes across all age groups was evident world-wide. Official statistics shows that the UAE is ranked 11th worldwide, with 18.9% of the UAE population are living with diabetes.
Lectures were given in both English and Arabic and were presented by Abu Dhabi’s leading diabetes consultants, Dr. Mohammed Al-Khatib and Dr. Thomas Kunt who focused in their talks on how to keep the whole family away from Diabetes starting from childhood. They discussed the dangers of the disease and gave tips on how to prevent it. Attendees were then invited to a free health check up by the HealthPlus medical team including Body Mass Index, Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure.
This event was also supported by Abu Dhabi Business Women Council who invited all their members to attend to learn more about diabetes as well as showcase some of their members’ small business success stories. Moreover, activities for kids were also organized.
“We are pleased to be organizing this community diabetes awareness event in partnership with HealthPlus and Abu Dhabi’s Business Women Council,” said Andrew Broderick, Aldar’s Health, Safety & Environment Manager. “It was great to see such an excellent turnout from the community at The Souk – World Trade Center Abu Dhabi and we look forward to organizing more similar activities as part of our shared commitment to community health and social responsibility.”
Her Excellency Eng. Fatima Obaid Al Jaber, Executive Board Chairperson of the Abu Dhabi Business Women Council said, “Health education is an integral part of our beliefs at the Abu Dhabi Business Women Council. We could not be happier to be here today and be part of such an important community event.”
Mr. Majd Abu Zant, CEO of HealthPlus, commented, “Such events have given HealthPlus the opportunity to advance our main mission of improving the long-term health of the communities that we serve. This can be achieved through regular screening and early detection, and promoting health awareness and education. In the past few weeks since the opening of our new facility we have found that more than 20% of the patients visiting our center were diagnosed with Diabetes for the first time by our doctors. This is an alarming number; collaborations between organizations within the community are vital in order to continue raising awareness and educating the public by all means possible.”
“There is a vast number of patients with diabetes that are currently unaware of their disease. Increased awareness will benefit the patients in avoiding any complications. Individuals are also surrounded by risk factors for diabetes, mostly related to rising obesity rates and physical inactivity. We hope through education and raising awareness, we will help in decreasing the prevalence of diabetes and other chronic diseases which we as healthcare professionals all look forward to. We encourage people to not only increase their physical activity and follow healthy eating habits, but also stop bad habits such as smoking and monitor their health on a regular basis,” Dr. Mohammed Al-Khatib from HealthPlus said.
Dr. Thomas Kunt from HealthPlus concluded, “Families who’ve attended our lectures came in with the goal of empowering themselves, and taking a more active role in their health by learning about one of the most common health problems that may affect them over the course of their lives. We encounter many families who only see a physician for a health problem and never take advantage of the available preventative health services and education.”
About Aldar
Aldar Properties PJSC is Abu Dhabi’s leading property development, management and investment company. It listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities market in 2004. Aldar was established to support the region’s infrastructure through the creation of high quality, attractive and sustainable communities equipped with residential, commercial, retail, leisure, hospitality, education and medical facilities. Aldar’s diverse property portfolio includes major developments and re-developments within Abu Dhabi including Yas Island, Al Raha Beach, World Trade Centre Abu Dhabi, and Al Falah. The company owns a sizeable land bank in strategic locations throughout the Emirate.
HealthPlus
‘HealthPlus’, Abu Dhabi’s growing network of premium outpatient centers, was established by UEMedical, the Abu Dhabi based healthcare investors and developers. The healthcare network will provide state-of-the-art outpatient medical services and support the multiple missions of UEMedical, including outstanding patient care and extensive community outreach. Over 20 facilities, adopting international standards and best practices, will open over the coming years and form part of an integrated healthcare delivery system including UEMedical’s flagship project, Danat Al Emarat Women and Children’s Hospital. The network will comprise of Centers of Excellence in a variety of specialties including Women’s Health, Fertility & Genetics, Day Surgery, Orthopedics & Rehabilitation, and Dental Health, in addition to a number of Family Clinics. The centers will be heavily involved in promoting community health awareness and education, and in supporting national programs in line with the initiatives of the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi of improving public health. HealthPlus will fill the apparent gaps in the healthcare sector, and focus will continually be placed on medical excellence, patient-centeredness and unparalleled levels of customer service. For more information, please visit www.healthplusivf.com
For press enquiries, please contact:
Farah Al Alami
Marketing & Communications Manager, UEMedical
M: 00971 50 6611428
T: 00971 2 6266805
F: 00971 2 6266897
E: falami@uems.ae
