RIYADH, 9 April 2005 — Princess Sheikha bint Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman, the wife of Riyadh’s Deputy Governor Prince Sattam, flagged off the World Health Day celebrations at the weekend before a large gathering of women and children at a city park.
Marked under the WHO theme “Make every mother and child count,” the program drew more than 2,000 women and children. It was organized by the Ministry of Health and was co-sponsored by Roche Company.
The venue presented a carnival atmosphere with children’s playgrounds and exhibition stalls to entertain the mothers and children to signify the importance of the day.
The Saudi Red Crescent displayed a pavilion to educate the mothers on first aid and taught them the steps to be taken at home in an emergency situation.
The evening program included lectures by Dr. Ummul Khair on “Mammogram”, Dr. Safiya Sharbini on “Family Health” and Dr. Hudah Al-Harbi on the “Role of Health Education.”
“The ministry has directed all its health regions to carry the health messages of the day through the 2,000 primary health care centers (PHCs) and it would cooperate with the Ministry of Education to pass on the message to the children and their parents,” a senior official of the Ministry of Health told Arab News
“The theme of World Health Day this year touches every heart. It is a plea for everyone to make use of every event, every voice, every occasion, to make every mother and child count,” Dr. Hussein Jezairy, WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said in a statement.
