The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has announced the launch of the second phase of “Our Future Lies in Our Health” campaign that encourages all Qatar residents to lead a healthy lifestyle and abandon harmful habits.
The campaign involves healthcare institutions, experts and specialists in healthcare, as well as numerous activities and events. The programme targets all sectors of the society through activities that suit different age groups. The activities will support the campaign’s goals and deliver the desired messages to all segments of the society in the country through media and other advertising platforms.
Three of the most important aspects that the campaign will be focusing are healthy eating, physical activity and stopping smoking. The campaign also emphasises on the role of youth in influencing their peers and help them abandon unhealthy habits.
Ahmed bin Abdulla al-Khulaifi, assistant secretary-general for Administrative Affairs, SCH, said: “This campaign came to life after meticulous research on the general healthcare situation of the Qatari community and the challenges it is facing. The aim of the campaign is to promote principles and behaviours that support the advancement of society and its health.”
Al-Khulaifi explained that the campaign was launched following numerous challenges facing the Qatari society came to the fore. He indicated that as per the latest surveys, obesity rate in Qatar has reached 41%, and the smoking rate among Qatari youth in the 13-15 age group was 15.7%. “This requires the intensification of awareness efforts to make them abandon their unhealthy habits and follow a healthier lifestyle.”
The official also pointed out the collaboration between the SCH and other institutions to fight unhealthy habits and related diseases as well as the efforts of Qatar to eliminate them by investing a large amount of money. He assured that health education programmes would focus on covering all health aspects, from physical and psychological to social facets.
First launched in June this year, the “Our Future Lies in Our Health” campaign is scheduled to run for a year. It comes as part of SCH’s vision to build a healthy future for the Qatari community within its Nutrition and Physical Activity Scheme 2011-2016.
“The State of Qatar is keen on providing the finest healthcare services and technologies for all members of the society and raising the level of health awareness among all individuals,” HE Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani, Minister of Public Health and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Health, had stressed at the launch of the first phase of the programme.
In order to deliver its messages to each and every member of the community, the campaign is being spread across all media - television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards and text messages - as well as on buses, airport banners, airplane screens and at cinemas.
Concern over cost of surgeries covered by Seha
The cost of surgeries covered by the National Health Insurance (Seha) is up to seven times more than the normal charges for such services, local Arabic daily Arrayah reported yesterday.
Investigations have revealed that Seha pays QR22,000 for tonsillectomy while other insurance companies pay an average of QR7,000 for the same operation done by the same provider within the same period. The daily pointed out that this happened with the full knowledge of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), as it has access to the tariff card of healthcare providers in the country.
Similarly, for adenoidectomy Seha pays QR22,000 while other insurance companies pay only QR6,000, the paper said. For male circumcision Seha pays QR14,200 and others pay only QR2,800.
The daily said that several questions were being asked about such exorbitant rates which were draining the estimated QR10bn budget of the SCH.
SCH awareness campaign logo
