QOC Signs Agreement to Join Weill Cornell Medical College Health Campaign

Doha, June 05 (QNA) - Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) has become a strategic partner in Sahtak Awalan (Your Health First), a health campaign by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q), to promote positive lifestyle choices. QOC Secretary General HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani signed the agreement along with WCMC-Q Dean Dr. Javaid Sheikh. "Through this strategic partnership with WCMC-Q, QOC will be able to contribute to building a healthy society. In fact, QOC and the Sahtak Awalan campaign have similar goals in that we both seek to promote the physical well-being of the individuals upon whom the future of our nation rests," HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. "We are totally confident that by working together we can reach more people in Qatar, paving the road to healthy individuals who can contribute to Qatar National Vision 2030," he added. As part of the new agreement, QOC will provide the campaign with access to sports facilities and will collaborate with community activities, helping to inspire the nation and future generations to participate in sport and exercise. It is hoped top athletes to be ambassadors for Sahtak Awalan events, motivating others to follow in their footsteps. The QOC secretary general said the committee will work to bring Qatar's Olympic medalists Moataz Berchem and Nasser Al-Attiyah to take part in the campaign. For his part, WCMC-Q dean welcomed the partnership between the college and QOC, hailing it as "tremendous news" that will "have a positive impact on the health of the population." "When two organizations come together for a common purpose the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts and I am confident that through working together we can do even more to create a healthy society able to contribute to a knowledge-based economy," Dr. Sheikh said. Through partnering with QOC, WCMC-Q hopes to be able to instill some of the Olympic spirit into the Sahtak Awalan campaign and encourage participants to embrace that same spirit. QOC will provide support for the campaign at sports events and will allow it to reach more people, not only in Qatar but also in the wider GCC. Sahtak Awalan was launched in June 2012 with the aim of educating the population of Qatar about unhealthy lifestyle choices and encouraging them to take positive action. The five-year campaign targets people of all nationalities that live in Qatar, but have a special focus on youth. QOC will join other strategic partners of the campaign, including the Supreme Council of Health, the Supreme Education Council, Qatar Petroleum, Occidental Qatar, ExxonMobil, and Vodafone Qatar. WCMC-Q is a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation. It offers pre-medical and medical courses leading to the Cornell University MD degree with teaching by Cornell and Weill Cornell faculty and by physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation and Aspetar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital who hold Weill Cornell appointments. Through its biomedical research program, WCMC-Q is building a sustainable research community in Qatar while advancing basic science and clinical research. Through its medical college, WCMC-Q seeks to provide the finest education possible for medical students, to improve health care both now and for future generations, and to provide highest quality of health care to the citizens and residents of Qatar alike. (QNA)