CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
THE Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Center (QICDRC) to implement the Health in the Workplace Programme.
The MoU was signed by the Director of Public Health Department in the ministry Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Thani and the CEO of QICDRC Faisal bin Rashid al Sahouti.
The MoU is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles among workers and caring for their health at workplaces across sectors.
Addressing a press conference, Sheikh Dr al Thani said that this initiative is in line with the objectives of the Qatar Public Health Strategy 2017-2022, which is part of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022, aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of the people of Qatar and protecting them from the risks and diseases that threaten them through 16 major health fields and four pillars.
MoPH Acting Director of Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases Dr Salah al Yafie said that with various entities joining hands to implement the action plan for the Health in the Workplace Programme, it was bound to succeed for the benefit of both employers and employees.
Sahouti said the signing of the MoU with MoPH comes as part of the court’s keenness to provide a healthy and sustainable work environment that takes into account the needs of employees and raises their efficiency and quality of work.
The implementation of the MoU will be divided into phases with the first phase to include collecting general information from employees about their lifestyle and health needs through a questionnaire, which will be sent via email and will be confidential.
The second phase of the programme will see launch of a comprehensive health campaign on separate days for male and female employees for early detection of risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity. The campaign will include BP, sugar and obesity tests. The third and final stage of the programme will include activities implemented during the year with the participation of all employees.
The Workplace Health Programme aims to encourage all employees of governmental and semi-governmental institutions to adopt healthy lifestyles, to provide them with a healthy and safe environment and correct wrong practices if there are any.
It is noteworthy that the programme has already been implemented in 13 institutions where the agreements to this effect have been signed.
The programme focuses on how to prevent chronic non-communicable diseases through healthy nutrition, physical activity inside and outside the workplace, and stopping tobacco consumption while raising awareness of how to overcome the stress of daily work.
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