The Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First campaign of Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar (WCM-Q) has launched its latest initiative that aims to help shoppers buy healthy, nutritious foods for their families.
WCM-Q recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and Al Meera Consumer Goods Company to launch the “Your Healthy Choice” initiative in four Al Meera outlets - Legtaifiya, Gulf Mall, Al Wakrah and Thakira.
“Your Healthy Choice” has now also been officially launched in partnership with the MoPH at Géant Hypermarket, Hyatt Plaza.
The five outlets initially involved in the project have “Your Healthy Choice” branding throughout the stores and information about the health benefits of a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat and fish.
The information provided is in accordance with the ministry’s Qatar Dietary Guidelines. The aim is to educate shoppers so that they can make informed choices about what they eat, and encourage them to prepare healthy, balanced meals.
A health educator will be available during weekends to advise customers not only about the healthiest foods to buy and give to their families, but also how best to maintain or lose weight. There will also be booklets with nutritional information and dietary advice.
Dr Saleh bin Ali al-Marri from the MoPH commended the ministry’s  co-operation with WCM-Q and Al Meera Consumer Goods Company in launching this “important campaign as part of the collective efforts towards increasing health awareness, which is a matter of utmost importance in order to achieve a healthy future for the population of Qatar”. 
“The main goal of the ‘Your Healthy Choice’ campaign is to encourage healthy eating habits in Qatar, and it is part of the Ministry of Public Health’s ongoing efforts to promote healthy lifestyles that lower the risk factors of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer,” said Sheikha Dr al-Anoud bint Mohamed al-Thani, director of Health Protection and Non-communicable Diseases, MoPH.
Nesreen al-Rifai, chief communications officer at WCM-Qatar, said: “Through programmes like ‘Your Healthy Choice’, we encourage people to make small changes in their lives now that will have a huge positive impact when they are older. In this way, we are also helping create a healthy generation, able to meet the challenges of Qatar National Vision 2030.”