Yarmouk becomes first healthy city in Kuwait

Yarmouk, a suburb of the Kuwait Capital City, has marked its fulfillment of World Health Organization (WHO) requirements to become the first model healthy city in Kuwait. "The Yarmouk suburb council has already met WHO requirements, including the fight against obesity, a walk marathon, beautification and cleaning," Yarmouk council chairman Abdulaziz Al-Meshari told a news conference here on Sunday. The suburb council has set up a well-equipped walking track, planted trees, saved power and water, washed streets with water and soap, organized exhibitions for young entrepreneurs and established an environment-friendly park, he boasted. It has also organized cultural, social, educational and health symposiums and lectures and paid much heed to voluntary activities by means of setting up working teams, urging people to donate blood, planting trees in main streets, combatting smoking and fighting swine flu, he added. Furthermore, a project to plant a million trees at schools was launched in April 2012 and several campaigns on disabilities and accidents were carried out, Al-Meshari pointed out. On her part, the Health Ministry's chief health controller Dr. Amal Al-Yahya said the ministry attaches much attention to public health and usually adopts initiatives to improve the health sector in the country. The ministry, for example, has launched the health city initiative and has even taken steps to help Kuwaiti areas become healthy cities, she remarked. The initiative reflects the principle of societal partnership in contribution to health activities, programs and responsibilities, given that chronic diseases and traffic accidents are common in Kuwait, Al-Yahya pointed out. A World Health Organization (WHO) delegation today visited Yarmouk suburb in order to check whether the city has fulfilled necessary health requirements to become a healthy city.