Doha 9th February 2015: On the occasion of Qatar National Sports Day, Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, through its leading Healthy Lifestyle Programme (HLP), launched the first “National Physical Activity Guidelines” at a symposium of the same name at The Torch Doha. The aim of the symposium was to make health professionals aware of the recommendations and benefits, as well as the precautions, of exercise for their patients, and how to offer them easily when including them within their policies. The event was also to present the “National Physical Activity Guidelines” for specific populations, to raise awareness among health care facilities and practitioners, and to make this a standard reference for all healthcare facilities. This comes in the framework of strengthening Aspetar's efforts to provide its services at the community level and to promote the concept of physical activity to be part of the prevention and plans for many of the chronic diseases facing primary healthcare, such as diabetes and roughness arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease and cardiovascular disease treatment providers. Commenting on this occasion, Dr Mohamed Ghaith Al Kuwari, Director of Healthy Lifestyle Programme at Aspetar said:

“The “National Physical Activity Guidelines” provide practitioners and other health care providers with a simple, fast, and effective tool for using physical activity as a highly effective prescription for the prevention, treatment, and management of more than 40 of the most common chronic health conditions encountered in primary practice”.

The lecturers have addressed several critical themes to illustrate the importance and the role of healthcare practitioners and their understanding of “National Physical Activity Guidelines” by addressing their applications in a scientific manner and highlighting the latest studies in the field. The discussions focused on the instructions for different age groups of the community regarding the most common chronic diseases and the recommended exercises for each disease with the recommendation of raising the fitness in these patients as well as healthy people to achieve the best results at the level of public health. The symposium brought together leaders and experts in physical activity and health from different backgrounds and sectors, as well as international experts. About ASPETAR: ASPETAR is a world leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, and the first of its kind in the Middle East. Since 2007, with a world expert team, the hospital has provided top-level comprehensive medical treatment to all athletes in a state-of-the-art facility that sets new standards internationally. In 2009, Aspetar was accredited as a “FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence” by F-MARC and “IOC Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health” in 2014. In 2015, Aspetar has been recognised as the “IHF Reference Centre for Athlete and Referee Health worldwide”. ASPETAR is a member–organisation of Aspire Zone Foundation, Qatar’s innovative sports and healthy lifestyle destination. www.aspetar.com . Twitter: @aspetarqatar Facebook: facebook.com/aspetarqatar