Al Ain: A child protection group has been formed at Al Ain Hospital to help educate the community on major health risks.
The group also hopes to reduce health risks to children in the oasis city.
The group said it would work to educate parents and the wider society about issues such as chronic congenital diseases, obesity, nutrition, anaemia, diabetes, communicable and genetically inherited diseases, and traumatic injuries.
These issues had economic consequences, as well as an effect on the wellbeing of families, the group said.
Al Ain Hospital Child Health Institute Chairman Professor Andreas Boeck said: "Our effort is to help people change their lifestyle, food, and habits to control the medical complications the children have been suffering the most".
He said the programme involved a two-pronged strategy that would show people how to improve their lifestyle and, at the same time, reduce the most common risks and dangers to the health of children.
Effective education
Started last month, Professor Boeck said the Al Ain Hospital Child Health Institute has been studying how best to develop effective education methods.
It is staffed by a team of health professionals including doctors, technicians, planners and educators. Promoting a healthy lifestyle could result in improvements in the health of children.
Education, proper nutrition, and exercise could bring about major changes, he said. Professor Boeck said children deserved better protection, to ensure they grew into healthy men and women who were equipped to steer the destiny of the nation instead of becoming a burden on families and the society.
The group would reach out to the community through publicity, social groups and organisations, Professor Boeck said.
"One of the focused areas will be schools, where children can easily be made aware of health risks," he said.
He said the Al Ain Hospital's Child Health Institute was focused on preventing diseases in children.
"Children don't have their lobbies to highlight their issues," Professor Boeck said.
"We at the hospital have come forward for effective studies and solutions," said Professor Boeck.
Al Ain Hospital recently organised a conference on paediatric issues, bringing in some 500 specialists from all around the world, Professor Boeck said.
The aim was for the specialists to share their knowledge and experience, to help develop better strategies in paediatric medicine.
The Al Ain Hospital Child Health Institute is fully equipped with the necessary equipment and staff to cater to the community's needs, he said.
"The institute has all basic departments, including paediatric surgery, under one roof that has been seeing hundreds of patients a day," Professor Boeck said.
The institute has 60 inpatients' beds.
"We have enough capacity and services, and adopt shift systems according to the seasonal requirements to fulfil the community needs," he said.
The Oasis — a new hospital within the existing Al Ain Hospital — is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2013. It has been designed to integrate all hospital services across 358,000 square metres.
The Oasis has been designed to combine the friendliness of Oasis staff with state-of-the-art facilities, according to the hospital officials.
