An exhibition was held in Jeddah on Wednesday to warn people against neglecting the effects of the elements on their health. The expo, themed “Protect Health as the weather changes,” held at Al-Sairafi Mall, aimed at educating people on things like how to avoid excessive sunshine and protect themselves from dangerous insects. The exhibition was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Health. Dr. Sami Badawood, director of the Department of Health Affairs in Jeddah inaugurated the event. The exhibition also aimed to warn Saudi Arabia's residents about illnesses that may befall them because of the changing weather, pollution from industrial and transportation activities and polluted water, all of which increase incidences of infectious diseases. “Our campaign has started in several schools and in areas that are under the supervision of the Ministry of Health,” said Dr. Munirah Balahmar, Community Medicine Consultant and Head of the Health Warnings Department at the Health Care Department in Jeddah. “Actually, we concentrate on school students to give them awareness of their role to save the environment in order to decrease negative effects among them.” She added that several events have started to attract children from different levels of the society. “We started an art competition in which every child makes a painting that expresses his or her idea about protecting the environment,” said Balahmar. “We also asked them to write stories about how to save the environment.” “We also make several visits to the schools and arrange workshops to educate as well as entertain them.” Balahmar added that the Ministry of Health aims to raise knowledge in the community about the environment. Starting their campaign with children is considered the first step to ensure continuous awareness about the environment among the up-and-coming generations. About the choice of Al-Sairafi Mall as a venue, Balahmar said it was because its management expressed interest in helping with such campaigns. The Civil Defense Department also contributed to the event by educating people on how to behave and protect themselves in unforeseen weather changes, such as a sudden storm, for instance, said Balahmar. According to Badawood, holding such an event in a public place like the mall is the best way to educate people on how to use the water, electricity, gas and chemicals safely and rationally. A public place is also good for distributing brochures about such issues. “Because of industrial growth, we are planning to go with this step to educate all segments of the society about these issues,” said Badawood. “Every year we use more improved ways to send our message across. Fighting water pollution or garbage accumulation is considered the municipality's duty, not ours. But all of us are really involved.” He added that the Ministry of Health has teams that periodically visit rural areas and prepare statistics about cases that suffer illnesses such as dengue fever. __
