‘Education Room’ seeks to raise awareness about childhood diabetes

The Qatar Diabetes Association (QDA), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), has launched a Diabetes Education Room at Rawdat Al Khail, Al Muntazah.The initiative is a joint venture of Sasol, the international integrated chemicals and energy company, and QDA to mark World Diabetes Day 2017 and raise awareness and improve outcomes in managing childhood diabetes.The Diabetes Education Room was inaugurated in the presence of Phinda Vilakazi, president of GTL Ventures, Sasol, and Dr Abdulla al-Hamaq, executive director of QDA. The facility features two sections: a meeting room for parents to receive guidance from diabetes educators on health education, lifestyle, and diet changes, and a children’s play area that houses the Health Park Board Game, which was specially developed by Sasol and QDA in 2016.Diabetes prevalence in Qatar is among the highest in the world, with 20% of the population either living with diabetes or at risk of diabetes. Children make up around 1,200 of the 239,000 estimated cases of diabetes (International Diabetes Federation Atlas 2015), and have an acute need for education on lifestyle and health options to bring the disease under control.Dr al-Hamaq said: “Health education and family support are critical to living and dealing with diabetes, and we believe this Education Room will have a significant impact on family health and lifestyles. We are grateful for Sasol’s continuous support to our mission to improve the overall quality of life for those who are affected.”Sasol and QDA created and launched plush characters named Salem and Sarah in 2014, which were designed to reduce the fear and apprehension often associated with diabetes in young children while the Health Park Board Game was launched to test the knowledge of children with diabetes and their families on food groups, healthy eating and the dos and don’ts of healthy behaviour of people with type 1 diabetes.Officials at the launch of the Diabetes Education Room.