More Than 10,000 People Are Expected To Take Part, Up 100 Per Cent From Last Year.
For the second year running, the National Health Insurance Company – Daman, has put its weight behind WALK UAE, the nation’s landmark Diabetes awareness event (scheduled for Friday November 28 2008 in Abu Dhabi). More than 10,000 people are expected to take part, up 100 per cent from last year.
Daman’s CEO Dr Michael Bitzer confirmed that his team was fully behind the initiative organised by Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC), in partnership with the Emirates Foundation.
“Daman is committed to raising health standards in the UAE, primarily through public health education. WALK UAE has done an excellent job in bringing the community out in force – we are fully on-board to play a key role for the second year running,” he said. Daman is named as the exclusive sponsor of WALK UAE 2008.
Emirates Foundations’ Communications Director, Maytha Al Habsi, stressed the need for ongoing education: “The UAE needs much more information about Diabetes. The community needs to know what measures they can take to prevent and manage Diabetes and related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease.
“ICLDC’s DIABETES.KNOWLEDGE.ACTION. campaign has made great strides in this direction. Emirates Foundation will continue to encourage such public awareness initiatives and we are confident that WALK UAE 2008 will reach out to many more people this year."
ICLDC’s Medical & Research Director and Consultant Endocrinologist Dr Maha Taysir Barakat confirmed that early response is high : “We have received tremendous interest from corporates, institutions and individuals to participate in Walk UAE 2008, and hope for participant numbers nudging 10,000 people this November 28, ” she said.
Dr Maha promotes exercise as a simple but smart way of managing a healthy lifestyle and said that walking briskly for 30-minutes each day has proved to be effective in Diabetes prevention.
She said that Diabetes is estimated to affect nearly 20 percent of the UAE’s population and almost 33 million people in the Gulf region.
WALK UAE 2008 is scheduled for November (Friday November 28), to coincide with a month of global diabetes activities and initiatives spearheaded by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
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