Supreme Council of Health and QRC Launch Prevention Campaign

Doha, August 20 (QNA) - The Supreme Council of Health and Qatar Red Crescent announced launching a national campaign to combat communicable diseases in the State of Qatar. Wekaya Campaign was launched on Tuesday at a press conference at the Supreme Council of Health by Dr. Mohammed Al-Hajri, the Director of Health Protection and Communicable Diseases Control at the Supreme Council of Health, and Saleh Al-Mohannadi, the QRC Secretary-General. They explained that the campaign seeks to improve awareness of expat labor about infectious diseases and provide them with knowledge to enable them to prevent being infected in addition to knowing more about some communicable diseases, their modes of transmission, diagnosis and treatment. The campaign focuses on reducing the spread of infectious diseases and improving awareness of infectious diseases prevalent in the State of Qatar. This includes awareness of the spread of pathogens among expats, providing them with the skills to prevent their spread, treatment and capacity building of relevant partners to enable them to combat these diseases and carrying out research and studies related to communicable diseases. This will be done by communicating with and educating the community through the activities of the Centre for Health Information. The campaign includes interactive online workshops and lectures and awareness raising events held across the country in a bid to develop a culture of awareness and accurate public health information, particularly among the expat community. The campaign will be implemented over three years via a series of stages, with the first year concentrating on health awareness and education. In light of QRCs management of the migrant health center and the workers health center in the industrial zone, the first phase of the campaign will focus on this area and will initially take the form of a four month pilot carried out at forty companies and factories, being extended to cover a larger area at a later date. The first phase will begin with the distribution of leaflets in a number of languages, including Arabic, English and Urdu, and training of medical staff on infectious diseases as well as personnel training at relevant health authorities, holding seminars, lectures, training workshops and exhibitions to raise awareness of infectious diseases among expats and the distribution of personal hygiene kits. The target diseases will be divided into four phases throughout the year with each phase focusing on a specific set of diseases and linking themes, campaigns, slogans and events with national and global health-related days. Al-Mohannadi said that the campaign comes in light of QRCs constant efforts to work with partners in order to ensure a healthy environment for workers in Qatar. "This joint collaboration with the Supreme Council of Health and Hamad Medical Corporation comes in light of our belief in the human rights of the labor force and our desire to alleviate their suffering," he said. "The campaign aims to prevent infectious diseases among expats and promote health and preventive actions in the State of Qatar," he continued. "We are pleased to partner with the Supreme Council of Health in this meaningful campaign to highlight the importance of health education in the prevention and reduction of infectious diseases, especially amongst migrant workers," he concluded. QRC takes an active role in the provision of medical services to migrant workers and has expanded its health programs in Qatar which began with the establishment of health centers for workers in the industrial area in 2010 followed by centers for workers in Wafideen, Mamourah and Zikrit as well as a health check-up service for expatriate workers in the minor industrial zone. "We highly value this partnership with the supreme Council of Health which will increase the benefits of this project and help in exchanging experiences. We strongly believe in the importance of health awareness and prevention of communicable diseases, especially among expatriate workers." For his part, Dr. Mohammed Al-Hajri said that the campaign comes in context with the implementation of Qatar's national strategy for health, which was devoted towards the prevention of communicable diseases (denoted project (3.5). He added: "The strategic goal of the campaign to work on the sustainability of "Qatar is free is free from epidemic and endemic diseases" by reducing the exposure to risk factors that lead to the spread of infectious diseases among expats." "The campaign will adopt the best practices for health education about infectious diseases, which were proven in different regions of the world to be successful. The campaign strategy will be based on (Information, Education and Communication), and setting goals according to the priorities determined by the State of Qatar," he said. (QNA)