10km race organized by Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute (FSRI) and Agility to support Kuwait University’s Community Eye Health Care Initiative – Vision 2020
On Saturday, November 6th, hundreds of enthusiastic particpants joined RunQ8, the 10 km race organized by the Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute (FSRI) and Agility under the patronage of the Kuwait Minster of Health, Dr. Hilal Al Sayer. Zain, the leading telecommunication company in Kuwait was the main sponsor.
The beginning of the race was flagged off by the Assistant Undersecretary from the Ministry of Health, Dr. Khaled Al Sahlawi. The route of the race began from the starting line at The Kuwait Scientific Center and extended to the Al Corniche Club and back.
While a large percentage of the participants were regular runners, many others were amateurs that joined the race purely to support the cause. Around 100 volunteers also donated their time to assist in logistics of the race and ensure the race was a huge success.
Fareed El Jardainy emerged the winner in the male category while Renata Hopova was the first woman to complete the race.
Dr. Elham Al Hamdan, President and Medical Director at the Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute (FSRI) stated, “The aim of RunQ8 is to raise public awareness on health issues in our society, support medical research and encourage healthy living.”
FSRI and Agility combined their efforts to organize the race that also supports medical institutions. Each year, RunQ8 will support a different health issue and work towards raising awareness in our community. In its first year, Run Q8 will support Kuwait University's Community Eye Health Initiative, Vision 2020. All proceeds from the race will go directly to Vision 2020.
Mariam, Al Foudery, VP of Enterprise Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility at Agility highlighted: “At Agility we lay a strong emphasis on corporate citizenship. RunQ8 falls under our focus on health as a CSR priority. We have invested resources and time into RunQ8, to ensure local health care programs receive the required assistance and are promoted through as many channels as possible. We look forward to participating in many more such initiatives and growing health awareness among the communities in Kuwait.”
Vision 2020 is a joint initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). They are joined by other UN agencies, governments, eye care organizations, health professionals, institutions, and individuals all working in partnership to eliminate avoidable blindness. The preliminary projects for eye care assessment in the elderly will be conducted in joint cooperation between the Kuwait University and the Kuwait Ministry of Health.
Dr. Manal Bouhameid, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Community Eye Healthcare Initiative, Kuwait University explained: “Every five seconds one person in the world goes blind. One child goes blind every minute and it is estimated that over seven million people become blind every year, even though prevention and treatment of vision loss are among the most cost-effective and successful of all health interventions worldwide. The Community Eye Healthcare Initiative in Kuwait University joins international efforts to prevent avoidable blindness. We are grateful for the support that the Ministry of Health, RunQ8 and Zain have extended to us and look forward to directly impacting 10,000 Kuwaitis in the first year alone.”
RunQ8 was also supported by The Scientific Center, Al Corniche Club, International Development Company, Al Watan, Metal & Recycling Company (MRC), The Sultan Center, the Harley Owners Group , Marina World and Kuwait Health Initiative (KHI).
The Metal & Recycling Company ensured that RunQ8 was an environment friendly event by providing recycling bins and collecting all the plastic waste generated from the water consumed by the participants during the race. All the plastic cups and bottles will be recycled at MRC.
About Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute (FSRI)
The Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute is a non-profit rehabilitation institute established on the pillars of service through clinical care, education, training and research. FSRI is committed to offering the finest-quality orthopedic, cardio-pulmonary, neurological and pediatric rehabilitative care in the Gulf. However, our greatest commitment is to improving the standard of health care in Kuwait and working on preventative health initiatives targeting the local population.
FSRI works towards: initiating research to gather data on Kuwaiti health to support our evidence-based practice; supporting and offering free or low-cost international-standard training to local healthcare professionals; supporting local researchers and clinicians in their professional development; supporting the efforts of local civil society working in the areas of improving rehabilitation and health, providing consistently high quality physical rehabilitation services with clinicians trained in the North American model; implementing programs to allow equal access to quality rehabilitative care to vulnerable patients who would otherwise be unable to receive adequate treatment; and educating the public on health and rehabilitation issues through articles in local newspapers, lecture series, and outreach programs.
For more information on FSRI, please visit www.rehabinstitutekuwait.com
