Ministry Of Health Launches 2nd Phase Of “Healthy & Positive Work Environment” Initiative

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MohAP) has launched the second phase of the “Healthy & Positive Work Environment” initiative, which provides public employees from government, federal, and private agencies with the right information and skills to promote healthy lifestyles, such as healthy food and physical activity to prevent obesity and chronic diseases, while building a work environment that is supportive of a healthy lifestyle.

The launch ceremony, which was held virtually in the presence of more than 60 representatives of federal and local government agencies, included introducing MoHAP Health Promotion Department and its general and operational strategic objectives, a presentation on the initiative of a healthy and positive work environment, its sources, targets and expected outputs, introducing the best practices and standards applied globally, as well as explaining the mechanism of constructive cooperation between the ministry and government agencies, which contributes to achieving the best results for the physical and psychological health of employees and thus increasing government productivity.

The initiative includes a number of activities and services such as a healthy work environment guidelines, which provides practical steps on how to make work environments healthier and more productive for employees, a knowledge bag that contains awareness materials to educate employees, in addition to some services, educational workshops, virtual lectures, videos and educational materials among others.

National resilience & business continuity

HE Dr. Hussein Abdel Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for the Public Health Sector, said: “The launch of the 2nd phase of “Healthy & Positive Work Environment” initiative, which was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, comes as part of MoHAP’s commitment to achieving national resilience and business continuity, while approaching the recovery phase, thanks to government measures and the cooperation of community members, as well as the state’s leadership in containing the repercussions of the global health crisis.”

Employee health in corporate culture

Al Rand noted that the initiative falls within the Ministry’s strategy to provide comprehensive and integrated health care in innovative and sustainable ways to prevent the spread of diseases in society in order to achieve significant outcomes in the activities and events of the national initiative “Promoting awareness of healthy lifestyles”, which contributes to improving the results of the national indicators of healthy lifestyles in the national agenda of the UAE vision.

He pointed to the fruitful results of the first phase of the initiative which has remarkably contributed to improving the behavior of employees to develop a health-enhancing work environment that positively reflects on their productivity and achieving well-being and happiness in the workplace. This is part of the ministry’s institutional culture in its endeavors to achieve the objectives of National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031, Al-Rand noted.

Creating supportive work environment

Dr. Fadila Sharif, Director of the Health Promotion Department, said: “The initiative was launched in 2017and continued until the beginning of 2020, with the participation of 45 government agencies across the UAE and about 5,000 employees. It featured a general health survey for employees in their workplaces, including the most important vital signs, such as measuring blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure,  body mass index (BMI), and risk factors for cardiovascular and diabetes.”

Sharif mentioned that the second phase was built on the results of the first phase to create innovative health activities that contribute to enhancing the health and fitness of employees in the work environment, spreading the culture of proper nutrition and its impact on raising the efficiency of productivity and positivity at work, as well as embracing lifestyle and behavioral patterns in order to protect employees from chronic diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, obesity, and depression and help them quitting smoking and facing work pressures.