SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) centers on ensuring good health and wellbeing for all. In Kuwait, a country with a well-developed healthcare system, addressing this goal involves not only providing healthcare services but also promoting a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. The American University of the Middle East (AUM) plays a vital role in contributing to SDG 3 through its various initiatives, education, and community engagement.
Kuwait's healthcare system is known for its quality and accessibility, but AUM recognizes the importance of fostering a culture of good health and wellbeing beyond medical treatment. The university places emphasis on educating its students and the wider community about healthy lifestyles, mental health awareness, and preventive healthcare practices.
AUM's curriculum includes courses and workshops on health-related topics, equipping students with knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their physical and mental wellbeing. Additionally, the university promotes physical activity through sports facilities and encourages students to participate in various sports and fitness programs, thus contributing to their overall health.
The university also actively engages in community outreach initiatives. AUM collaborates with healthcare organizations and NGOs in Kuwait to raise awareness about health issues, conduct health camps, and offer medical screenings to underserved populations. These efforts help bridge gaps in healthcare access and promote good health beyond the confines of the campus.
Mental health is a crucial component of SDG 3, and AUM recognizes its significance. The university provides counseling and mental health services to support students' emotional and psychological wellbeing, creating a safe and supportive environment for their personal development.
In conclusion, AUM's commitment to SDG 3 extends beyond traditional healthcare to embrace a holistic approach to good health and wellbeing. Through education, community engagement, and mental health support, the university contributes to Kuwait's efforts to ensure that its citizens have access to quality healthcare and the knowledge and tools necessary to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.
AUM has an agreement with Dar Al Shifa Hospital, one of the most renowned hospitals in Kuwait, to provide medical staff and registered nurses from their Emergency Department (ER) Department for AUM Central Clinic, in addition to collaborations to raise awareness on health issues among students. We note that Dar Al Shifa Hospital has the diamond accreditation of Accreditation Canada International (ACI).
AUM Central Clinic includes two large clinics that can accommodate a big number of patients on a daily basis. In addition to having the best medical equipment and continuously monitoring the medicines’ validity, AUM ensures having the highest standards of cleanliness in its central clinic.
Services offered at the clinic include simple cases or accident / emergency cases
General check-up for students and staff whenever they visit the clinic with any illness or complaints such as blood pressure, diabetes, dizziness, etc.
Providing them with medicine when applicable such as painkillers, pills for sore throat, etc.
Providing first aid when applicable
Hosting the student/staff until the ambulance arrives, if necessary
Health Awareness Activities with Dar Al Shifa Hospital - AUM Central Clinic
AUM partners with Dar Al Shifa hospital to raise awareness on several causes including breast cancer awareness every year in October, Diabetes Day, COVID19 awareness, First Aid Workshops among others (more details are provided in the outreach programs). Below is a sample event organized in collaboration with Dar Al Shifa Hospital.
On 14 November 2021 and on the occasion of World Diabetes Day, AUM runs a series of activities on campus in order to raise awareness about the disease and encourage healthy living among the campus community.
According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), around 1 in 6 adults (73 million) are living with Diabetes and the number is expected to reach 95 million by 2030. It is also worth noting that 1 in 3 adults living with diabetes is undiagnosed as per IDF. In this respect, AUM partners with Dar Al Shifa hospital who conducts glucose tests on campus.
Since diet and physical activities are considered important pillars when it comes to diabetes care, AUM collaborates with famous diet centers in Kuwait and offers a dedicated space during the event. Dietitians from these centers answer students’ questions and offer them advice on how to combat diseases with a healthy diet.
On the athletic front, a cross-fit challenge are conducted at the football pitch where students competed in different forms of sports such as squats, pushups, lunges, jumping jacks, crunches, running, and hurdles. Nurses from the AUM clinic are available in case any injury happened. From nutrition and exercise to medical care and advice about handling complications, the community benefits from the opportunity to learn more about diabetes and healthy diet from experts across the country.
AUM collaborates on a recurrent basis with Kuwait Central Blood Bank, the only blood bank in Kuwait being operated by the government, to organize a blood drive at the university so that students, faculty, and staff can volunteer to donate blood and help save lives.
The American university of the Middle East (AUM) held, in collaboration with Cancer Aware Nation (C.A.N), an awareness day for head and neck cancer on its campus in Egaila.
AUM held several related activities on the day aiming to raise awareness on the different types of head and neck cancers, how to avoid, detect and treat the disease especially that early detection increases the chances of patient recovery.
The event comes after a series of health awareness activities that fall under AUM’s social responsibility. Last month, AUM held “World Diabetes Day” activities to inform students on how to detect and treat the disease. AUM also held a “Breast Cancer Awareness” campaign to promote awareness of breast cancer, and encourage young men and women to perform breast self-exam on a regular basis since early detection can help fight the disease.
Through cultural, health and sports activities AUM hopes to educate a young generation aware of and engaged in the wellbeing of the community to improve lives.
The American University of the Middle East (AUM) is dedicated to promoting the holistic well-being of its students, and this includes ensuring confidential and supportive environment, and access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, information, and education.
The American University of the Middle East (AUM) organized events and activities to raise awareness about Breast Cancer as part of its annual "Pinktober" Campaign.
The campaign aimed at stressing on the importance of raising awareness and early detection, coinciding with international efforts that have taken October as an official month to raise awareness of the disease, which can affect both males and females alike.
In addition to the campaign’s primary objective of spreading awareness and explaining the main causes of the disease and ways to prevent it, which was done in collaboration with Dar Al Shifa, the university secured discounts for the MRI Breasts, Mammography and other services for students, faculty members and staff, to encourage them to go and do the check-up.
The students also implemented creative ideas to highlight the importance of raising awareness about breast cancer by participating in many activities such as arts and crafts. The most unique of them was the huge model representing the internationally approved breast cancer awareness logo, where the students used pink blocks to complete the model; as a symbol of unity and support for each other.
This month, let the time be right for your health 💖
#TogetherWeRise
#BreastCancerAwareness
Our annual events and activities to raise awareness of breast cancer. We are grateful for your participation and encouraging messages! 🎀🌸💪🏼
The United Nations in the State of Kuwait represented by the Resident Coordinator Office, the WHO Office in Kuwait, and UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education in Kuwait organized an expert-led webinar to highlight the needs and opportunities for a mental health strategy to be considered, adopted and actioned by all schools in Kuwait. The webinar also aimed to build consensus into the mental health needs and interests of children and adolescents whilst highlighting the responsibility and respective contribution of a wide range of stakeholders. The webinar will form an early stage of a mental health policy planning exercise for schools by identifying the need for and key features of a school mental health policy.
Mental health problems can manifest in children as sadness or worry, attention deficits, behavioral difficulties, and deterioration in school performance. Early screening and deployment of effective interventions can reduce the likelihood of continuity and exacerbation of mental health associated impairments into adulthood. The rise in violence, drug addiction and depression among adolescents in Kuwait over the past few years has been alarming. A number of contributory factors have been found to exert impact on mental health; these include stressful events in early life such as child abuse and neglect, social isolation and negative lifestyle habits, including increased passive screen time and lack of physical activity.
The pandemic has underscored the urgency of putting in place collective action plans and policies that protect those most vulnerable and promote their wellbeing. Plans must recognise that children’s and adolescents’ development stage can influence the degree of their vulnerability to mental health disorders. Accordingly, schools must be well positioned and prepared to identify the need for early interventions to reduce risk factors for mental health disorders and promote protective factors.
Dr. Tarek El-Sheikh, UN Resident Coordinator and Representative of United Nations Secretary-General noted that “Schools need to adopt innovative solutions to keep linkages open with students, particularly in states of emergencies,” further emphasizing that every school should be a mental health-promoting school through a holistic approach that builds on relationships with students, families and teachers.
Dr. Assad Hafeez, WHO Representative in Kuwait called all stakeholders to attend to the global statistics which reaffirm a need for urgent action, Dr. Hafeez followed that “globally the largest burden of mental health falls on young people.”
The Ministry of Health was represented by Dr. Abdullah AlSanad, who stressed that “Schools are central to nurturing a child’s skills of social connection and emotional regulation,” and that the Ministry of Health in Kuwait, in partnership with the Departments of School Health and Primary Healthcare are in the midst of preparing a mental health plan for school-aged pupils.
The unprecedented length of school closures imposed because of COVID-19 may have contributed to significant impediments to children’s overall wellbeing and development, not just their learning. With school reopening plans and the focus on accelerating learning to remediate losses, it is crucial that effective mental health and wellbeing plans are put in place so as not to lose sight of the unequivocal link between mental health and educational attainment. Equally so, these plans must necessarily factor in teacher preparedness to take on this responsibility and their personal wellbeing by mainstreaming into them the requisite capacity building exercises, tools, and modalities for the sharing of best practices by educational psychologists.
The webinar ended with a call to continue the conversation towards actional mental health strategies for schools across the nation. Speakers in the webinar were: Dr. Bibi Alamiri, MD, ScD Kuwait Center for Mental Health Adult, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist; Shaimaa Allami Psychologist at Ministry of Education Department of Mental Health and Wellbeing; Dr. Tatjana Colin Head of UNICEF Office in Kuwait, Chief, Early Childhood Development UNICEF; Professor Atif Rahman Professor of Child Psychiatry, University of Liverpool , and Fatema Albader Middle school English Teacher, Bayan Bilingual School Kuwait.
Introduction
In response to the rising need for mental health and psychosocial support services among responders and the community at large, the Kuwait Ministry of Health through Kuwait’s Center for Mental Health and Central Administration for Primary Care launched a number of novel initiatives to improve access to care and overcome limitations imposed by lockdowns and quarantines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental wellbeing
Among the general population, there are reports of increased rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms, particularly among the elderly and persons with disabilities. This is due to worry about infection compounded by limited access to medical and social support because of isolation and lockdowns. There are also reports of increases in self-harm and suicidal behaviours.
According to the Ministry of Health, there has been a significant increase in the number of new and formerly stable patients presenting to outpatient psychiatric clinics and inpatient units. Meanwhile, the number of patients presenting to primary health care clinics and emergency departments of general hospitals showed a decline.
Caregivers of persons with mental, neurological and substance use disorders and healthcare staff have experienced significant stress and burnout due to staff shortages and increased workloads.
Mental health and psychosocial support response
The Kuwait Center for Mental Health launched a hotline (+965 2462 1770) to deliver online consultations. It operates daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. In addition, an Instagram page provided evidence-informed information about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, coping with stress, and the available resources for mental health and psychosocial support. The Center, together with the Primary Mental Health Committee launched the “Ghad” national campaign for the prevention of self-harm, using mainstream and social media.
The Ministry of Health launched an interactive application “Shlonik”. Through this application, the Ministry aims to engage with citizens and residents to ensure their safety, provide health information, and monitor patients. It also includes a health bot. thus far, the platform served more than 25 000 patients in quarantine and more than 8000 individuals infected with COVID-19, including the provision of psychosocial support.
All the outpatient psychiatric consultations and primary mental health clinics were conducted online from end of March 2020, and the first dedicated remote psychiatric service hotline was opened for healthcare providers. A total of 155 healthcare providers were treated between March and June.
Specialized psychiatric clinics delivered psychotropic medicines to the homes of their registered patients to ensure continuity of their treatment regimens.
Mental healthcare providers working in the private sector developed initiatives to support the COVID-19 response through providing education on coping with psychological problems. This is being done through social media, newspapers, and TV channels. Some of them also offer free remote psychosocial support to frontline workers. They use digital platforms and train volunteers to provide basic psychosocial support.
Lessons learnt and way forward
There is a high demand for mental health and psychosocial support services among people infected with COVID-19 and especially patients in quarantine facilities.
There has been a decrease in the stigma associated with mental health problems as the need for mental health and psychosocial support rose and became more evident among the general public.
It is necessary to integrate a mental health component in general health care and other sectors like education.
All frontline workers must have the skills to provide basic psychosocial support including psychological first aid.
Mental health services can be made more widely accessible to the population by building on platforms like “Shlonik”.
Mental health support by AUM Counseling and Wellness Center
A variety of psychological and wellbeing support and services to students at AUM. This can be through frequent coaching and continuous follow up. Short-term and long-term counseling options are available to students. Additional resources are offered as reading and activities material. AUM students can seek the services as walk in visitors or as faculty and staff referrals.
AUM Student Counseling and Wellness Center offers individual one-to-one counseling to support students as they work through personal challenges that affect their ability to succeed at the university and in other areas of their lives.
Sessions are in person and offer students the opportunity to talk one-on-one with a counselor to explore, understand, and work through personal issues.
Students can seek counseling to deal with issues, such as:
Psychological: Post-traumatic stress disorder, Sexual, physical, emotional and verbal assault and abuse, Disorder eating, Suicidal ideations and tendencies, Somatic symptom disorder, Sleep disorders, Conduct disorder, Substance use and addictive disorders, Obsessive compulsive disorder, Antisocial personality disorder, Dependent personality disorder, Histrionic personality disorder, Paranoid personality disorder.
Mental disorders: Bipolar Disorder, Borderline personality disorder, Schizophrenia, Dissociative identity disorder, Self-harm, ADHD, ADD, Autism, Narcissistic personality disorder.
Physical: Diabetes, Pregnancy, Polycystic ovary syndrome, Epilepsy, Cardiovascular complications, Chronic pain, Asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases.
General: Anger management, Anxiety, Phobia, Panic disorder, Depression, Grief and loss, Lack of Motivation, Loneliness, Managing stress, Perfectionism (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder), Procrastination, Relationships (family, friends, and partners), Shyness, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, Fear of public speaking, Thoughts of suicide or self-harm, Crisis intervention, etc.
Students with learning disabilities can avail of a range of services including extra time during assessments, individual presentations in the faculty office, extra time for attendance, and extra time during presentations. The Counseling and Wellness center aims to consolidate the current efforts provided for students with special needs and work closely alongside faculty members to accommodate students’ specific needs.
The Center provides a number of trainings on campus, including health and wellness prevention, awareness programs, mental health campaigns, and workshops aimed to further support and educate students struggling with minor or major physical and mental health complications.
The following post is displayed on all digital screens inside the campus. We note that the center was launched in 2023 to consolidate previously exisiting and offered efforts and will be soon added to the website under.
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, AUM launched campaign through social media to raise awareness on mental health issues and educate people to take care of their mental health (10 October 2022).
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday launched an awareness campaign on the dangers of tobacco, in cooperation with the National Anti-Smoking Program. Vice President of the Health Ministry’s National Anti-smoking Program Dr Ahmad Al-Shatti said during the campaign that the ministry is working to reduce the number of smokers due to its negative effects on human health.
Al-Shatti noted that smoking is not a “masculine behavior and includes both genders,” which calls for raising the level of awareness as well as control of sales of tobacco, prevent smoking in public places, and stop advertising and promoting it. Head of the Health Promotion Department and member of the National Anti-Smoking Program Dr Abeer Al-Bahou stated that tobacco harms “our health as well as the planet, adding that the campaign aims to encourage governments to end tobacco cultivation and switch to more sustainable crops that support farmers to improve food security and nutrition.”
They said the spread of smoking in Kuwait poses a great danger to the health of citizens and significantly hinders health development. A previous study published in the American Library showed smokers in Kuwait reached 49.9 percent among men and 4.4 percent among women, while the number of smokers who continue to smoke in Kuwait is 39.2 percent among men and 3.3 percent among women.
A study on the relationship between smoking and cancer conducted in GCC countries, including Kuwait, revealed 16.3 percent of cancer cases are related to smoking, and that the most common cancers associated with smoking are lung cancer, followed by bladder cancer and colorectal cancer. Dr Shaheen and Dr Otaibi indicated that smoking in Kuwait has become a direct danger to families, especially after the spread of electronic cigarettes and misunderstanding about its dangers.
A comparative study revealed the percentage of smoking among primary education students in Kuwait is 28.8 percent compared to 9.3 percent in Oman, which reflects the danger of smoking, its spread among adolescents and the need to intensify educational programs that promote health culture among young people in Kuwait to combat tobacco in all its forms among students. Dr Shaheen and Dr Otaibi concluded their statement by saying studies have shown the risk of smoking increases among university students, as a study published in 2020 showed the rate of smoking cigarettes and shisha among university students in Kuwait is 46 percent, compared to 42.3 percent in Saudi Arabia.
Dr Saleh said the society prepared a list of activities to celebrate World Anti Smoking Day, including lectures by specialists in cooperation with the education and social affairs ministries, in addition to an exhibition to spread awareness about smoking and TV and newspaper interviews. He said a seminar will be held on the harmful effects of e-cigarettes on May 31.— KUNA
AUM has a smoke-free policy, which specifies that students and university personnel are prohibited from selling and consuming tobacco or other psychoactive substances within AUM facilities. It also clarifies that the only exceptions to the policy are for research or theatrical productions; requests for exceptions must be submitted to Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety for review. For medical research exceptions, the university must apply to the Kuwait Department of Health for exemption.
Similarly, AUM establishes some outdoor areas where its staff and students may smoke, and failure to comply with these rules will result in disciplinary action for violators.
This policy establishes that people who wish to smoke may not do so in the indoor facilities of the university but must go to the spaces that the university has designated for this activity because, for AUM, it is essential to take care of the health and welfare of all its students and staff.
Extract from Student Code of Conduct – Article 25
No-Smoking Policy
Smoking is prohibited inside the university premises. It is strictly prohibited for students to smoke in any part of the university premises (such as corridors, toilets, elevators or emergency exits).
Compliance
The success of this policy relies on the thoughtfulness, consideration, and cooperation of all the campus community. It is the responsibility of all members of AUM to comply with this policy.
For any misconduct regarding not applying the smoking policy, please contact:
Student Affairs (for students): 2226 0100
Human Resources (for faculty/staff): 2225 1400
Security (for visitors): 22255111
University disciplinary procedures will be implemented on members who do not comply with the No-smoking policy.
Glassee’s - First Place in AUM Startup Challenge 2023 and 2nd Internationally in Babson Student Global Challenge
The concept of this project centered around aiding individuals with visual impairments using smart glasses and a cane. Team members: Deem F B Alotaibi, Farah Alfajji, Aliah Alenezi, Afaf Almuraifea, and Yaqoub Almejadi.
