Manama: Kuwaiti health officials have hailed the success of ‘Friends of Hearts’, an annual marathon to promote health awareness and active lifestyles.
“The Ministry of Health’s role is not only to treat patients, but also to raise people’s awareness about health problems,” Ali Al Obaidi, the health minister, said as he inaugurated the sixth edition of Friends of Hearts organised on Saturday by the Chest Diseases Hospital.
“The event is part of the ministry’s programme to educate people about important health issues. The marathon aims to strengthen relations between patients and staff at the ministry, which is tasked with offering better services for all the people,” he said, Kuwait News Agency (kuna) reported.
The minister added that such activities promote the concept of overall health. “The ministry also seeks to enhance the concept of health culture among citizens,” he said.
“Holding a health exhibition on the sidelines of the marathon is in line with the ministry’s strategy toward the prevention of breast cancer and non-communicable diseases,” he said.
In his statement, the minister said that the blackout that hit large parts of the country last week had not affected any health services. “None of the hospitals felt the impact as the generators were turned on immediately,” he said. “All the patients received their treatment regularly without interruption.”
Al Obaidi added that he personally visited several hospitals to ensure that health services were not affected by the power failure.
Director of Chest Diseases Hospital Nader Al Awadi said that the marathon underlined the significance of sports in everyday lives.
The Deputy Director of the hospital, Hani Al Mutairi, told the news agency that the event provided “an opportunity to raise people’s awareness about risks of heart diseases and to give them tips for a healthy diet.”
