Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, U.A.E. Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Health Authority, and with the participation of the World Health Organisation, the 1st Non-Communicable Diseases Congress (NCD) in the U.A.E. is to be held in Dubai from 9th to 11th of January. The conference, whose scientific programme is accredited from the U.A.E. Ministry of Health with 15 CME hours, deals with cardiac diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancers and kidney disease. Prof. Najib Al Khaja, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences and the President of the Conference, said, "For the first time in the Middle East, the Hamdan Medical Award organises the conference in collaboration with the U.A.E. Ministry of Health, Dubai Health Authority, the Oncology Services, Mafraq Hospital, in addition to four U.A.E. medical associations: Emirates Diabetes Society, Emirates Cardiac Society, Emirates Society of Nephrology and Emirates Respiratory Society. Al-Khaja referred to the importance of the conference and praised the support from H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, U.A.E. Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Health Authority, for the health sectors locally and regionally, and his keenness on supporting methods of communication between local health institutions and international scientific institutes to benefit from their experience in this field. "In collaboration with Hamdan Medical Award, the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the WHO will organise the pre-Congress Symposium on January 9th. The symposium is scheduled to review the agenda for NCD prevention and control in the Eastern Mediterranean, the experience of some countries in NCD prevention and control, the U.A.E. National Programme for Tobacco Control, the U.A.E. National Programme for NCD control and ways to be activated on the ground", AL Khaja said. "I am so proud of the high scientific level of the speakers from the U.A.E, Jordan, U.K., Sweden and Cameroon, especially Prof. Jaakko Tuomileh from Finland, the winner of the Grand Hamdan Award in its 6th term, 2009-2010, on the topic of diabetes. Dr. Nooshin Bazargani, consultant cardiologist at Dubai Hospital and a member of the scientific and organising committees of the conference, said that the scientific programme includes five scientific sessions and 19 lectures dealing with many important issues such as pre-diabetes and its impact on public health, diabetes in the Middle East and North Africa, barriers to stop the diabetes epidemic and the U.A.E.'s plans to tackle the epidemic of obesity. "Additionally, the conference will discuss the national strategies that adopt the WHO guidelines for salt and fat intake reduction, hypertension control, the medical viewpoint to government and policymakers for the implementation of the NCD prevention and control, the importance of physical exercise, pharmacological therapies for obesity management, sleep apnea and cardiovascular diseases, cancers in the U.A.E., cancer prevention and smoking cessation, in addition to the global need to prevent chronic kidney diseases and the U.A.E. experience in this field", Dr. Bazargani added. "Four workshops are to be organised within the conference on the usage of the imaging modalities for cardiac assessment of patients with heart failure, which will be held in collaboration with the Italian University of Padua, in addition to workshops on simulation training for atrial fibrillation, invasive procedures and pulmonary hypertension", she added. "One of the main objectives of the conference is raising public awareness towards the importance of preventing non-communicable diseases. In this context, the Majid Al Futtaim Charity Foundation is hosting an event to honour the winners in the competition held for the best advertising posters by school students, grades six to nine, on the theme of life-style modification to prevent non-communicable diseases. This ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. on January 9th with the attendance of the school students and their families.