Doha: Qatar has overtaken the U S in the obesity stakes and people must do more to ensure a healthy future, free of diabetes and associated illnesses, for themselves and their children, a high-level symposium organised by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar’s (WCMC-Q) Department of Global and Public Health was told.
The event, co-sponsored by the Supreme Council of Health (SCH, was entitled Emerging Trends in Health Care and Lifestyle Diseases: A Special Focus on Qatar. The Department of Global and Public Health launched the Journal of Local and Global Health Perspectives during the event.
Dr Ravinder Mamtani, WCMC-Q’s Associate Dean for Global and Public Health and Dr Albert Lowenfels from New York Medical College are the joint editors-in-chief of the international peer-reviewed, open access journal from QScience.com. Its aims at providing a global perspective on health issues and to publish research into the application of public health strategies in diverse regions and environments.
The journal was welcomed by Dr Faleh Mohamed Hussain Ali, Assistant Secretary General for Policy Affairs at SCH, who delivered the keynote remarks at the symposium.
“We are missing such journals and it is a welcome addition to the medical publications landscape and will also be a great contribution towards the health of our nation as a whole,” Dr Faleh said. “This is something that shows perspective, both in local and international dimensions. Having something that looks at the scientific issues from a local and international perspective is a great benefit to us all.”
Dr Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCMC-Q, delivered a speech on Optimising Health Care through Education, Research and Clinical Programmes, while Dr Mamtani spoke on Chronic Disease Risk Factors in Qatar: Recent Findings.
Dr Mamtani said lifestyle diseases are of concern in Qatar as recent research shows. Obesity is an important risk factor and the number of people living in Qatar who are overweight is increasing. Obesity increases the risk of chronic diseases such as heart illness, hypertension and diabetes.
“Globally, 63 percent of people die from non-communicable diseases. In these diseases the top four diseases are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes and they constitute about 80 percent of mortalities,” Dr Mamtani said.
Prevalence of these diseases and risk factors are also widely prevalent in Qatar. About 70 percent of people in Qatar are overweight and 41 percent are obese according to recent data provided by the SCH.
“These diseases, as science has shown, kill prematurely, they compromise quality of life and we also know they are influenced by behaviour,” Dr Mamtani added.
“Often we think that we need to do a lot to prevent these illnesses. That is not the case. Simply making some marginal changes will help. In the case of obesity, for example, as little as eight to 10 pounds reduction in weight will contribute to improved health. Simple self-care approaches such as a healthy diet, regular physical activity and maintaining a normal body weight are immensely helpful in reducing the incidents of diseases such as diabetes.”
That message was echoed by Dr David Katz, the Director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center and an internationally renowned expert on nutrition, weight management and chronic disease prevention.
He said that the problems Qatar faced were mirrored across the world.
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