10 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS AUGUST 2015 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2015: AGW/WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events World Digestive Health Day 2015 - United Arab Emirates Ali Al Fazari, MBBS, FRCPC, FACP Assistant Professor of Medicine & Consultant & Gastroenterologist Department of Internal Medicine College of Medicine & Health Sciences United Arab Emirates University Al Ain, United Arab Emirates Under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Community Development in the UAE, the Emirates Digestive Diseases Group (EDDG) in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Health, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Medical Awards, and the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, organized a medical conference entitled “Fron-tiers in the Diagnosis and Management of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease” and a country-wide public awareness program titled the “Emirati Awareness Program on Esophageal Reflux” held 28-30 May 2015. Dr. Ali Al Fazari, Chairman of Emirates Digestive Diseases Group and Chairman of the Organizing Team, stated that the one-day medical conference in Dubai was attended by an excess of 300 delegates. The conference covered state-of-the-art knowledge about the diagnostic and therapeutic options in the manage-ment of reflux disease. Dr. Naseem Mohammed, a confer-ence delegate, thanked the organiz-ing team for a wonderful program and said that the scientific program focused on practical management of challenging cases of reflux disease, including endoscopic and surgical options. Dr. Fatma Al Shamsi, Vice Chair-man of the Organizing Commit-tee, stated that the major highlight Delegates at the medical conference. Heartburn Awareness Stand at City Center Mirdif, Dubai, UAE. of the Emirates Digestive Diseases Group was the 3-day public aware-ness program with two interactive stands at two major shopping malls in the country, the larger of which was set at the prestigious City Center Mirdif, Dubai. The stands were equipped with touch screens loaded with interactive educational materi-als. In addition, volunteering medical students interacted with the crowds and explained the various aspects of heartburn. Dr. Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi, Organiz-ing Committee Member, mentioned that mall visitors were attracted to the stand because of the two large high definition TV screens which continu-ously played the campaign educa-tional video. Many mall shoppers engaged on the stage with Chef Khulood Atiq’s approach to a healthier Emirati tradi-tional cooking. Visitors also were able to taste ready-made traditional dishes from the Emirati Cuisine. Ms. Salwa El-Ghifily, a volunteer third year medical student at the United Arab Emirates University, said that this is not her first public aware-ness program, but she thoroughly en-joyed interacting with the public in the mall. “I had a wonderful time and I personally learned a lot about reflux. I was surprised of how many people did actually have persistent heartburn issue and never saw any doctor about it.” The families visiting the stands also enjoyed examining mannequins of the esophagus and stomach, as well as
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