HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), participated Friday in a walkathon to raise diabetes awareness at the Oxygen Park in Education City.
The event was organised by the Qatar Diabetes Association (QDA) to commemorate the World Diabetes Day. More than 8,000 people participated in the march to raise diabetes awareness.
The event featured a range of activities and programmes aimed at awareness and prevention of diabetes. It was held under the theme of ‘Protect your Family’ to raise awareness that reducing the risk of diabetes starts at home.



The walkathon was also attended by QOC secretary general Jassim bin Rashid al-Buainain, QDA executive director Dr Abdullah al-Hamaq and the National Diabetes Strategy co-chair Prof Abdul Badi Abou Samra. A large number of students and people from different walks of life from various parts of the country were present at the event.

It was also aimed at raising awareness of diabetes and promoting the importance of regular exercise to help prevent type 2 diabetes and manage all type of diabetes. There were several educational booths offering tips on healthy living to overcome diabetes.
Experts also provided tips to prevent diabetes complications. There were free consultations to the public by diabetes counsellors, as well as distribution of educational materials to the public.There were several fun filled sport activities for everyone to participate and enjoy.
World Diabetes Day is the world's largest awareness campaign. The International Diabetes Federation celebrates this day on November 14 each year, with the participation of more than 200 societies around the world, including the Qatar Diabetes Association.
Diabetes is one of the most prominent health challenges globally and locally as one of the most widespread non-communicable diseases in the world. Its prevalence rate in Qatar is 17% in the adults, more than double the global rate of 8%, which calls for effective steps to combat this disease at the preventive and curative level.
Qatar has launched an awareness campaign to educate the community about diabetes and its risk factors. The four-phase campaign aims to raise awareness about the need for early detection of diabetes and the importance of avoiding diabetes through healthy lifestyles, including nutrition, physical activity and awareness, conducting a questionnaire to assessing awareness of those living with diabetes patients, patients, healthcare providers and media, empowering patients to manage their health, conducting workshops for type 2 diabetes for self-education and training, and launching the diabetes website.
Within the framework of the efforts of the Ministry of Public Health and its partners to combat diabetes, a number of important achievements have been made through the Qatar National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2022, most notably the implementation of guidelines for prevention and treatment.
Global statistics indicate that more than one million children and adolescents worldwide are diabetic, of whom about 176,000 are in the Middle East and North Africa, and that every eight seconds the disease kills one.
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