The groundbreaking Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First public health campaign of Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q) has scooped a major award for its work to improve the health of people in Qatar.
Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First won the ‘Best Community Development Award’ at the prestigious Corporate Social Responsibility Summit, held at the Doha Hilton under the patronage of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Summit is Qatar’s premier CSR and sustainability event and is one of a series of international forums designed to promote dialogue among leading corporations, support sustainability and drive social and economic development throughout the Middle East and Africa.
The award was received by WCM-Q’s Chief Communications Officer, Nesreen Al-Rifai, whose Communications Division is responsible for the conception and delivery of all Your Health First – Sahtak Awalan initiatives.
Ms. Al-Rifai said: “We are extremely happy and proud to receive this wonderful award because community development and corporate social responsibility are values that are absolutely integral to the identity of both the Sahtak Awalan campaign and Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar as an institution.
“Through Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First we strive to engage with everyone in the community to empower them to protect their own health and the health of their family. I want to give special thanks to all of our strategic partners, whose support has been instrumental in making Your Health First so successful.”
Your Health First was launched in 2012 in association with the Supreme Council of Health and the campaign’s strategic partners, Qatar Foundation, the Supreme Education Council, Occidental Petroleum Qatar, ExxonMobil and Qatar Olympic Committee.
The campaign has developed an innovative approach designed to reach every sector of the community by utilizing a wide range of communications channels, public events and interactive activities. Key community engagement strategies of Your Health First include:
- Project Greenhouse: Greenhouses, seeds and gardening equipment gifted to more than 80 elementary schools across Qatar to teach students the benefits of eating fresh produce
- The Challenge: A day of fun, physical competition and a poster contest for students from more than 40 secondary schools
- Yalla Natural: Promotes healthy lifestyles naturally by offering advice and resources for growing and cooking healthy produce, and exercising in natural ways such as walking and yoga
- Multiple channels: Your Health First offers health information and resources to the community through radio shows, cinema spots, TV shows, health booths in malls, public events, school visits, community initiatives, social media posts, a dedicated website, a calorie counting app and print media
- Healthy Schools’ Canteens Project: Offers healthy, nutritional menus to children at QF schools in partnership with AMLAK Services
- Major public events like ‘The Color Run’, which has proved to be successful in bringing the whole community together towards a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCM-Q, said: “At WCM-Q we aim to be a force for good in our community and we take corporate social responsibility very seriously. As such, it is wonderfully encouraging to receive this award and I would like to pass my sincere thanks to the CSR Summit for this honor, and to everyone involved in the Your Health First campaign for all their hard work.”
