As part of its wellness scheme, Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) organised a health day for its employees on September 29 to coincide with World Heart Day.

The health day was organised in collaboration with the Saudi-German Hospital, Dubai with the aim of raising awareness about maintaining the heart in good health through information and directives which focus on a healthy lifestyle to reduce the risk of heart diseases and heart attacks.

Statistics indicate that heart diseases lead to 17 million mortalities yearly, while 10 million individuals suffer from heart diseases locally. The main reasons behind the affliction of the cardiac arteries are smoking, high heart pressure, high levels of fat in the blood which are widespread in the Gulf.

The health day included free diabetes, blood pressure and lipid panel for cholesterol level tests, in addition to cardiac ultrasound and free medical awareness advice to all attending DMI employees.

The doctors said they will schedule other dates if need be to perform and analyse tests and explain the steps that should be taken to reduce the possibility of having cardiovascular diseases. Everyone can avoid cardiovascular diseases by simply making a few changes on their daily routine such as following a healthy diet and exercising daily.

“The organisation of such an event stems from DMI's relentless efforts to promote the importance of health through the #DMIWELLNESS initiative, launched the previous year. This was done to encourage the members of the community to adopt a healthy lifestyle through which they can maintain good health in the work environment and outside it,” said Mariam Al Afridi, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, DMI.

“We are delighted to have collaborated with the Saudi German Hospital in order to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases, preventing them and encouraging people to undergo regular tests for an early screening of the diseases,” she added.

Dr. Reem Osman, CEO of The Saudi German Hospital – Dubai, said: “Cardiovascular diseases affect not only the individual in question but also institutions and organisations and has a negative impact on productivity. World health days are a means of enlightening people about diseases and highlighting important health problems. They are also a good occasion to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases and strokes which claim the lives of many individuals, every day and are the number one cause of death in the world. This is why we at The Saudi German Hospital – Dubai are committed to play our role in raising awareness to promote health and medical culture in society and in all institutions and companies."

The event is part of many others on DMI’s agenda aiming to raise awareness about other diseases that threaten our society, stemming from its belief that early screening leads to reducing risks and avoiding diseases.