By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter
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Thousands of people who attended the 12th medical camp recently have also benefited from various programmes and services organised by Indian groups aside from the free medical check-ups.
Sajidurahman Ma, president of Youth Forum, told Gulf Times that many expatriate workers wanted to know how to prevent “lifestyle diseases” since “it is really affecting their lives.”
Dubbed as “Prevention is better than cure”, the Youth Forum exhibition offers body mass index measurement supervised by health experts. They give advices and options to individuals who are obese or underweight on how to deal with their present condition.
“So they have to reorganise their lifestyle obviously. Exercise is very essential to keep our body in good condition,” Sajidurahman said.
He added that thousands of expatriate workers were suffering from lifestyle diseases – like diabetes, heart ailments, skin diseases, eye problems and high blood pressure.
The exhibition aims to inform and create awareness on how these diseases could be avoided, emphasising healthy habits like eating vegetables and doing proper exercise.
“These should be done regularly. Most of the time, we are not aware of such things. That is why we brought some health experts and dietitians here,” he said. “Keeping a balance lifestyle is key.”
In a bid to make the campaign effective, Youth Forum also holds regular awareness classes and follow-up sessions.
Part of its programme is the Book Bank which collects books from former students and distributes it to the poor ones.
“Some parents cannot afford this because prices are very high. When we were young students, we also do this in our school,” said Sajidurahman. They also try to involve young students in different social activities to develop their personality.
Youth Forum also has the Center for Care and Assistance Research and Education (CCARE) which focuses on helping job hunters in Qatar.
It offers free job guidance classes and workshops in their centres and more than 100 people register every month.
“Basically we give interview tips and assist participants where to find opportunities,” said Saleel Ibrahim, head of the human resource wing of Youth Forum.
Ibrahim added that they also give career counselling and higher education information for the past seven years.
The group also has separate facilities for e-mailing which shares job information or vacancies to different people.
Some of the exhibits included a healthy food and “reuse/recycle” awareness booth.
One area promotes healthy eating habits by showing the food pyramid of a balanced diet. Another area showcases some products made of papers, used bottled water, wood and straw.
A woman who is passionate about herbs exhibited some plants during the camp.
“I want to inform and educate people about the medicinal properties these herbs which can cure minor ailments,” she said.