By Abdellatif Sharaa & KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Cancer Aware Nation (CAN) organized a sports marathon on Thursday, titled “Your Health First,” at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium as part of the Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign, with participation from Health and Interior Ministries, the General Sports Authority, and the Patient Helping Fund Society. During the marathon, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CAN, Dr. Khaled Al-Saleh, emphasized that this collaboration with a specialized academy aims to embed sports concepts in the minds of citizens and residents, underscoring its crucial role in boosting immunity and battling chronic diseases, particularly cancer.

Al-Saleh underlined the pivotal role of sports in improving human life, citing its ability to strengthen muscles, improve circulation, boost metabolism, stimulate appetite for healthy food, reduce fat accumulation, ward off chronic diseases, and stave off aging symptoms. He clarified that colorectal cancer ranks first among men and second among women in Kuwait, according to recent statistics, mentioning that 89 Kuwaiti men and 78 Kuwaiti women are diagnosed with colorectal cancer annually, warning that these are large numbers that need awareness to prevent this disease.

KUWAIT: Kuwait's Cancer Aware Nation holdsa sports marathon on Thursday, titled "Your Health First," at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium as part of the Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign.- KUNA photos

Al-Saleh commended the Kuwait Sports Day initiative, scheduled for March 9 pointing out that participation is encouraged for all residents of Kuwait. He also spoke about the importance of sport in improving the quality of life of the human being, as it helps in strengthening body muscles and improving blood circulation and metabolism, in addition to improving appetite and ingesting healthy food to get rid of accumulated fat.

On his side, Director of the Department of Prevention and Response to Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Hammoud Al-Zoubi commended the department’s partnership with CAN to combat chronic diseases through community engagement, stressing the need for awareness about risk factors like physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and smoking. Dr Al-Zoubi said cancer fighting is on top of the national strategy for fighting chronic diseases, and it includes early detection of such diseases through the ministry programs. The most important of which, is the national program to discover colon cancer and breast cancer in addition to primary care programs.