Heart-to-heart campaign launched in Dubai

Dubai, 2 February 2015 (WAM): Building on its remarkable success in the emirates of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, the Heart-to-Heart Community Outreach Campaign was launched on Sunday, this time to provide free cardiac screening to poor patients. Dr Adel Al Shamry, CEO of the Zayed Giving Initiative, said the campaign, a joint charitable medical mission by the Zayed Giving Initiative, the Saudi German Hospital and the Dar Al Ber Charity, seeks to heighten public awareness about the main heart diseases and best methods of prevention and treatment. He added that the campaign was rolled out within the framework of the Weqaya (Arabic for prevention) programme to raise awareness among the members of community with a focus on cardiac diseases. He indicated that mobile clinics will offer heart care and screening to members of the public in residential areas, shopping malls, sports clubs and public and private entities in order to reach out to the largest possible number of beneficiaries. Dr. Basem Duwederi, Head of Cardio Surgery Department, Saudi German Hospital, said the campaign would contribute significantly to preventing heart diseases and reducing related infections. He added that the campaign would conduct early screening to check for the main causes of cardiovascular diseases like smoking, blood pressure, height, weight and body mass index, and total cholesterol. He blamed unhealthy life style and diet, lack of exercise, smoking and abuse of modern technology devices for unduly long time as the main factors leading to cardiac diseases. Abdullah Ali bin Zayed, Executive Director of Dar Al Ber Charity, said the initiative would scale up its efforts to reach out to underprivileged patients within the UAE and abroad. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395275887854.html