WAM Dubai, July 29th, 2012 (WAM) -- The Dubai Health Authority aimed to conduct health screenings for employees of all government departments as part of its diabetes campaign, which was launched in 2009, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

The campaign aimed at fighting diabetes is taking place in collaboration with Sanofi Gulf and in its fourth year, said a top DHA official.

Dr Mohamed Farghaly, Head of Acute and Chronic care, Primary Health Care Sector at the DHA said the screening will include checking of blood sugar, blood pressure, body mass index, checking of carbon monoxide levels of smokers etc.

He said the authority has already screened employees in six government departments and so far 11,800 employees have been screened and the ongoing campaign aims to screen 70,000 employees.

He said that since the inception of this campaign in 2009, DHA and Sanofi have targeted all 14 primary healthcare centres and have already reached out to a number of sections in society including school children in order to inculcate the importance of healthy lifestyle among the future generations of our society.

Dr Farghaly said that the aim of the campaign is to conduct mass awareness initiatives to ensure early detection especially in cases where people are pre-diabetic because if they follow a healthy diet and exercise pattern they can prolong or even reverse the chances of developing diabetes. For diabetics also this campaign is important to ensure they are educated on how to manage the disease effectively." He said in addition to the diabetes awareness and screening program the DHA is also focussing on healthy heart awareness programs and has started the Safe@heart program in cooperation with AstraZeneca Gulf.

As part of the program, the campaign will take place across all 14 primary healthcare centres and DHA hospitals this year and patients will be screened to assess the actual age of their heart and those patients who need further tests and treatment will be referred to a DHA PHC.

He explained that the aim of the two programs is early detection of diabetes and heart disease, He said, "Studies have shown that if a person walks for 30 minutes daily and reduces his body weight by 7 to 10 percent, he can reduce the changes of developing diabetes by 58 per cent. So for us, early detection is key against our fight to combat diabetes and heart disease." WAM/AM