Abu Dhabi saw today the launch of the "Red Scarf Campaign" under the banner of "Together For A Beating Heart" to reduce the proliferation of heart disease with special attention to women’s health at both the global level and particularly within the UAE. Launched under the Patronage of HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), and of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), the Campaign will provide awareness programs in addition to free diagnostic and treatment services for thousands of women who suffer from heart disease and will organize several workshops and scientific conferences.

The campaign, which will be conducted over a full year and benefit thousands of women both within the UAE and globally, is an initiative of "Zayed Giving" in strategic partnership with the General Women’s Union and under the supervision of the Emirates International Mobile Humanitarian Hospital and Emirates World Heart Group. The medical mission has been launched out of concern to reduce the incidence of heart disease in women and to increase awareness amongst women concerning the major causes of heart disease and ways in which to reduce risk and prevent heart disease which is one of the major causes of death globally. The Campaign confirms the leading role taken by the UAE to alleviate suffering of patients in various countries around the world and to raise awareness and health education among their various communities through strategic partnerships with governmental, semi-governmental, private and civil society agencies.

The campaign is rolled out in line with the social cohesion vision and wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and continuous support and supervision of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of the UAE Red Crescent Authority. In a launch statement, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, "Mother of the Nation’’, who also heads the Council for Motherhood and Childhood, confirmed the growing role of women in society, which constitutes an essential element of development, makes it imperative for us to pay attention to the health, safety and well-being of women and provide all preventive and therapeutic services required emphasizing that the humanitarian "Red Scarf Campaign" is primarily aimed to provide free diagnostic and therapeutic and awareness programs for women at high risk of developing heart disease and to those living with heart disease.

Sheikha Fatima said that the campaign, under the banner of "Together For A Beating Heart", will target thousands of women, both within the UAE and throughout various countries, and has been designed to increase women’s awareness of the most important causes of heart disease and their prevention and will provide specialized medical teams through the Emirates International Mobile Humanitarian Hospital to enable early detection and diagnosis of heart disease in addition to providing treatment for various heart diseases, free of charge. ’’Awareness programs will focus on raising health awareness to reduce heart disease which scientific studies have shown to be increasing significantly in women over recent years,’’she added.

Sheikha Fatima confirmed that through the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, great importance has been attached to the role of women in the community and highlighted the important role which falls on women of family cohesion and raising children with high educational standards. She stated that many women in various countries around the world lack the opportunity to access the types of programs which will be provided under the "Red Scarf Campaign" and who suffer from illness and chronic disease, including heart disease and who are unable to meet high treatment costs that often exceed the abilities of families. This led to the inauguration of this campaign which will continue over a one year period both within and outside the UAE to alleviate the suffering of woman who suffer from various forms of heart disease.

She said that this humanitarian campaign will require the co-operation and cohesion of various institutions and agencies concerned with the mission of reducing and preventing heart disease among women and with the provision of free diagnostic and treatment programs for these women. Noora Al Suwaidi, Director of GWU, confirmed that the humanitarian "Red Scarf Campaign" has been launched under the Patronage of HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak "Mother of the Nation", to reduce the prevalence of heart diseases among women and highlight the attention paid by H H to the health and well-being of women.

’’HH attaches great importance to raising the level of services available to women to alleviate suffering and to provide the appropriate environment to enable women to play a full role in society and the family,’’ she said, adding that the increasing prevalence of heart diseases among women underscores the importance of this campaign, the "Red Scarf Campaign" which will support global and regional efforts to curb the spread of heart diseases among women through the creation of free treatment programs and focus on awareness and prevention programs especially since a large proportion of heart disease can be prevented through awareness of risk factors such as diabetes, smoking and obesity. She actively called upon women to participate in the campaign and benefit from the awareness and prevention programs offered at the units and centers which will be allocated for this purpose during the implementation of the campaign to detect and diagnose disease in its early stages and facilitate early treatment.

Dr Khadim Al Darei, Chief Executive Officer of the Emirates International Mobile Humanitarian Hospital, stated that through this campaign, seminars and awareness programs will be organized in the various Emirates of the UAE following an agreed schedule and providing free testing for a large number of women nationally in terms of measuring body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels in addition to counseling sessions by specialized medical teams from the Emirates International Mobile Humanitarian Hospital to raise awareness of prevention of heart disease. Also, specialized investigations will be provided such as cardiac catheterization procedures and open heart surgeries for women require these procedures but are unable to meet the financial burden which these procedures can carry, typically ranging from AED 60,000 - 100,000.

Dr Adel Al Shamri, Emirati Consultant Cardiac Surgeon and Intensivist, and Chief Executive Officer of the Zayed Giving Initiative, stated that diseases of the heart and blood vessels are a common amongst men but are becoming increasingly prevalent among women and in fact, the number of deaths from heart disease is now equal in both men and women. Dr Al Shamri stated that from the 17.5 million deaths attributed to heart disease globally each year, some 8.6 million deaths are among women which is greater than the total number of deaths attributed to cancer, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Dr Al Shamri added that it is possible to reduce this number of deaths through early detection, awareness and education.

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