The Ministry of Public Health has signed two co-operation agreements with Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) and Nakilat, to implement a programme on health in the workplace.
The ministry has been implementing the programme for many years with a number of state entities.
It is part of the ongoing efforts of the Ministry to raise awareness among the various segments of society on the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
It is also part of its efforts to achieve the objectives of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022, the Public Health Strategy 2017-2022 and the objectives of the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Action Plan 2017-2022.
The two memorandums of understanding were signed by the Ministry’s Director of the Public Health Department Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, and Director of Public Relations and Communication Ahmed Salem Sultan on behalf of QFMA and Nakilat’s chief of administration affairs Rashid Hamad al-Marri.
The memorandums of co-operation specify activities under the ‘Health in the Work’ programme, which are provided by the Ministry of Public Health to QFMA and Nakilat.
It is divided into successive stages that ensure the continuity of the programme starting from the first stage, which includes gathering general information of employees and other types of life in order to determine their health needs by filling a questionnaire for the programme which is sent via e-mail and treated with strict confidentiality.
The second stage of the programme includes a comprehensive health campaign for employees and staff to detect early risk factors for chronic noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity.
During the health campaign, simple measurements such as weight, height, blood pressure, sugar and fat are processed.
And then a field visit is conducted by the programme’s team to evaluate the cafeteria, stairs and gym, if any.
Therefore, the programme staff will write the reports and recommendations after the visit to be discussed with the questionnaire report and the tests.
After examining the questionnaires and the test, they identify the most common health problems for staff.
They then start an action plan for the first year and discuss it with the two institutions concerned.
They propose a set of activities and events proposed to increase staff awareness and practice of health patterns to make the work environment supportive of employees’ health.
In the third and final phase of the programme, the activities agreed upon during the year will be implemented with the participation of all staff.
A meeting with a liaison officer will be held to discuss the reports on the results of the first and second phases of the programme.
The plan of implementation of the proposed activities and events within the programme work plan and participation of staff in all these activities.
The director of the Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health said at a press conference yesterday that the agreements will boost the ministry’s efforts in improving the lifestyles for employees towards a healthier one.
He added that the initiative is in line with the objectives of the Qatar Public Health Strategy, which is an integral part of the National Health Strategy, focused on enhancing the health and welfare of the people of Qatar in order to protect them from diseases.
He pointed that the health challenges faced by the State of Qatar are similar to those faced by many developed countries, with the spread of chronic noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and the emergence of a significant increase as 70.1% of Qatari citizens suffer from overweight and obesity, and suffer about 17% Of Qataris with diabetes, and 44.9% of citizens aged 18 to 64 had three or more risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.
He said that Qatar’s public health strategy, through one of its four pillars, aims at empowering the community to improve health for all Qataris by empowering them to make better health decisions that ensure their well-being.
He added that it also aims to improve local participation by providing health programmes to support all The National Nutrition and Physical Activity plan, in particular the health in the workplace programme.
Sultan said that the agreement aims to establish co-operation in workplace health programmes between the Ministry of Public Health and the authority, praising the results of the programme reflected in the signing of this agreement.
Al-Marri said that signing the agreement was part of Nakilat’s commitment to health and to building human capital, as the company looks to contribute to the realisation of Qatar National Vision 2030.
Ministry of Public Health
