Doha 15th February 2015: Aspetar, Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, through its leading Healthy Lifestyle Programme (HLP), became a regional reference centre for “Exercise is Medicine”. This recognition has been announced during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum Of Understanding between Aspetar and “Exercise is Medicine” at Aspetar on the side-lines of the Qatar National Sport Day festivities with the presence of Chief Operating Officer, Mr Ibrahim Aldarwish representing the Director General of Aspetar, and Dr Adrian Hutber, Vice President of Exercise is Medicine. Exercise is Medicine is a non-profit initiative launched by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Medical Association (AMA), it calls for physical activity and exercise to be standard parts of disease prevention and medical treatment, urging healthcare providers to assess and review patients’ physical activity programmes at every visit, with office visits that conclude exercise clearance and a prescription or referral to a qualified health/fitness professional. In addition, patients are encouraged to begin a conversation with their doctor about physical activity, and to learn how to best continue or improve upon their exercise regimens. As the first Sports Medicine Hospital in the region to be adopted as a reference centre by “Exercise is Medicine”, Aspetar will be expected to introduce lifestyle medicine and specifically physical activity into the general medical practice to help people in the GCC region have healthier lifestyle and to prevent them from any chronic diseases”. Dr Mohamed Ghaith Al Kuwari, Director Healthy Lifestyle Programme at Aspetar, said,

“Aspetar is perfectly positioned to link the world of healthcare with the world of physical activity to allow physicians give the motivation to patients to actually start doing physical activity and then refer them to community base resources which can help them to continue that motivation and provide them with the opportunity to do that, because physicians are a such a trusted source for the patients”.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent a clear threat not only to human health, but also to development and economic growth. More than 60% of all deaths worldwide are attributed to cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic pulmonary diseases. Change in life style, in particular the unhealthy nutritional habits, smoking and physical inactivity constitutes the common risk factors that lead to emergence of NCDs as the dominant feature of ill health. Dr. Adrian Hutber, Vice President of Exercise is Medicine at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) said:

“Aspetar is obviously one of the leading healthcare systems in the region and is a leader and a role model and so is the perfect partner for us to be able to benefit both from its expertise and influence within the region”.

Focusing on creating public health awareness in the community, Aspetar have built a Healthy Lifestyle Programme (HLP) to promote physical activity and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and blood pressure, Exercise is medicine is one of those initiatives. Promoting a healthy lifestyle has been recognised as one of the main strategic objectives of Qatar’s National Health Strategy (NHS). The strategic objective for Aspetar and the Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) is to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among the population of Qatar.