Qatar Takes Part in WHO's World Health Day 2012

Doha, April 04 (QNA) - Qatar is to take part in the World Health Day falling on 7th of April each year .This year festival will be held under the theme ,'' Good Health Adds Life to Years'' On the occasion , the Supreme Council Of Health (SCH) will organize an event next Sunday at the Millennium Hotel Doha. The event which Dr. Saleh Bin Ali Al Merri , the Assistant Secretary General for Medical Affairs, will inaugurate, includes introductory presentations on aging and health in cooperation with the Public Health Department , the Health Education Programme Section at the SCH's Communication And Media Department and the Family Counseling Center. On World Health Day, 7 April, WHO is calling for urgent action to ensure that, at a time when the world's population is ageing rapidly, people reach old age in the best possible health. In the next few years, for the first time, there will be more people in the world aged over 60 than children aged less than five. By 2050, 80% of the world’s older people will be living in low- and middle-income countries. Non-communicable diseases - the main health risk for older people. The main health challenges for older people everywhere are no communicable diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease. "People in low- and middle-income countries currently face up to four times the risk of death and disability from no communicable diseases than people in high-income countries," says Dr Margaret Chan WHO Director-General. "Yet most of these conditions are largely preventable or inexpensive to treat." (QNA)