Over 3000 people from different walks of life participated in the 10km marathon.

Aster Volunteers and Community Development Authority (CDA) joined hands to mark World Heart Day with the first ever “Be Young at Heart” marathon, organised to highlight the importance of regular exercise to maintain a healthy heart.

Inaugurated by Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, TJ Wilson, Executive Director, Group Head Governance & Corporate Affairs at Aster DM Healthcare and Saeed Al Tayer, CEO of social planning and development sector at CDA, the 10km marathon welcomed over 3000 participants from different walks of life, including employees of Aster DM Healthcare from Medcare Hospitals, Medical Centres, Aster Hospitals UAE, Aster Clinics and Retail.

Among the 3000 participants, the first three participants to finish the 10km run were Abdel Ali from Morocco who finished at first place, Ibrahim Sulamani from Morocco finished second and Dominic from Kenya finished at third place.

According to Dubai Statistics Centre, around 30% of the UAE population suffers from heart disease, that is often linked to unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits. As part of Vision 2021, the UAE aims to reduce lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases to ensure a longer, healthy life for citizens.

“Physical activity is key to maintaining your health which will help to reduce many lifestyle diseases like diabetes and heart disease. The Be Young at Heart Marathon is an initiative in which Aster Volunteers has joined hands with CDA of Dubai as part of the awareness campaign for the public. Dubai is endowed with excellent weather for 5 to 6 months where the residents can undertake outdoor activities which can help them reduce the risk of cardiac diseases.  We thank all the participants for joining us in large numbers through their enthusiastic participation. Let me also place on record our appreciation for CDA for partnering with us in this event,” commented Dr Azad Moopen.

“The Community Development Authority is committed towards the development and welfare of the residents of UAE and we have worked closely with the Aster Volunteers team to set out the path for the Be Young at Heart marathon. The initiative is in line with the national agenda of promoting a healthy lifestyle and we were delighted to support this community event,” added Saeed Al Tayer.

Aster Volunteers is a corporate social responsibility initiative of Aster DM Healthcare that has impacted over 1 million lives. The Be Young At Heart Marathon is being held across the GCC and India between Sept.27-29.

Aster Volunteers programme, the global corporate social responsibility initiative of Aster DM Healthcare, was launched on occasion of the company’s 30th anniversary in 2017 and provides a platform which bridges the gap between people who would like to help with those in need. Driven by Aster DM Foundation, through various initiatives, the programme has been able to impact 1 million+ lives across geographies.

Operating primarily across 9 countries including GCC and India, Aster Volunteers have been able to treat 224,194 individuals through mobile medical camps; 152,897 people have benefitted from basic life support trainings and 30,580 free surgeries as well as health investigations were conducted; supported with the recruitment of 108 differently abled people and treated 464,284 people through 3,271 medical camps. The aid programme in Somali land, Jordan, Bangladesh and Kerala has benefitted 233,488 people.

Aster DM Healthcare Limited is a private healthcare service providers operating in multiple GCC states and is an emerging healthcare player in India.

With an inherent emphasis on clinical excellence the company is one of the few entities in the world with a strong presence across primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary healthcare through its 25 hospitals, 115 clinics and 231 pharmacies. These are manned by our 20,329+ workforce (including 1230 doctors on fee for service basis) from across the geographies that we are present in, delivering on a simple yet strong promise to its people: “We’ll treat you well.” We reach out to all economic segments in the GCC states through our differentiated healthcare services across the “Aster,” “Medcare” and “Access” brands.