Ambulatory Healthcare Services Raises Awareness of Heart Diseases among Employees of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 1 October, 2013 – Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS), a part of the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), held an awareness campaign today at the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) headquarters to coincide with the World Heart Day that is annually marked on September 29.

The campaign raised awareness about heart diseases among employees, in addition to highlighting easy-to-practice steps towards the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and related complications. As part of this agenda, AHS conducted an in-depth presentation on habits that promote a healthy lifestyle.

AHS also facilitated a mobile clinic as part of the campaign, to conduct free screenings of blood pressure, heart rate, hearing, vision, cardiac status, height and weight for TAQA employees that participated in the initiative.

Dr. Omar Al Jabri, Chief Medical Officer, at AHS, said: “At AHS, we are committed to supporting organizations that are keen to educate employees and the communities they work in about key concerns faced globally. Through such initiatives, we aim to promote early disease prevention and reiterate the importance of adopting healthy diets and regular exercise for enhancing the quality of lifestyle.

“The World Heart Federation recently reported that cardiovascular diseases annually kill 17.3 million people worldwide. The UAE is among the countries that have high rates of CVD and other lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. We strongly believe that in order to combat such diseases, people need to change their lifestyles and embrace healthier habits.”

Hadi Al Badi, Process Manager of the Health, Safety, Security and Environment Department at TAQA, said: “As a global energy company, we recognize our responsibility to ensure the well-being and development of our people, the environment and the local communities where we operate. We believe that no operational priority is more important than the protection of the health, safety and security of our employees, contractors and the public. This initiative in collaboration with AHS is part of our effort to reiterate this commitment to our colleagues.”