"Diabetes in Women" at LIU - Bekaa campus

On the occasion of the World Diabetes Day that falls on 14 November every year, the Lebanese International University, Bekaa campus organized an awareness event "Diabetes in Women- Our right to a healthy future" aiming at providing attendees with the knowledge and education they require to achieve optimal diabetes outcomes and strengthen their capacity to prevent this disease.

The awareness event took place on Tuesday 14 November 2017 and was organized by the school of Arts and Sciences (Biomedical and Nutrition departments) with the participation of the School of Pharmacy. It was attended by the Academic director Dr. Ahmad Faraj, the administrative director, Mr. Bassem Hazimeh, deans, instructors and a crowd of students and visitors.

Following the National and university anthems, Ms. Mira Fikany, the Nutrition department coordinator, welcomed the audience and had a speech in which she emphasized on the dramatic increase in the prevalence of this disorder worldwide, in Arab countries and in Lebanon specifically, which she related to unhealthy eating patterns and sedentary lifestyle in addition to other bad behaviors like smoking. Ms. Fikany also mentioned in her word the types, risk factors and consequences of diabetes. Then, she stated some facts about diabetes in women that show the importance of women in preventing diabetes in their families and therefore in their community. Ms. Fikany ended her word by showing the importance of the event in screening for new diabetes cases and in following up previously affected patients. Certificates and trophies of appreciation were distributed to the participating companies: Amel Association, Gannage Wellness and Nevella.
After ribbon cutting, the attendees visited the different stands where all necessary health services were available. Biomedical students were responsible to perform all blood tests including blood glucose, HbA1C, blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. For their part, pharmacy students were measuring the blood pressure of visitors and educating them about available treatments for diabetes: insulin and oral anti-diabetic agents.

Nutrition students were responsible about initial and final assessment of cardiovascular risk in patients. They were also measuring the weight and analyzing the body composition of attendees in order to give them the necessary dietary recommendations. Informative posters about diabetes type II, gestational diabetes and label reading were also available.
At the end of the event, a thank you message was delivered by the assistant dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Dr. Sami El Khatib in which he expressed his gratitude to all the participating students for their shared efforts to make this event a real success. Then certificates of participation were distributed to all the students.