Public Policy Document

Promoting healthy lifestyles is one of the most important elements of enhancing the quality of life for community members in the UAE. A healthy lifestyle can be defined as the way of living of an individual or family that affects the health of a person and through which the quality of life can be enhanced, diseases avoided, or the risk of death reduced.

The National Policy for Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in the UAE was issued in 2022. The policy aims to establish a multi-sectoral national framework to promote healthy lifestyles, achieve the highest levels of health for community members, and enhance their quality of life within the concept of community partnership in the UAE. The policy focuses on promoting the following healthy lifestyles: healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco control.

The policy represents a commitment from all parties to work together more effectively in areas of shared responsibility and their commitment to improving the coordination of public health functions and health sector services. It also aims to coordinate planning and implementation, define roles, improve information exchange, and foster innovation.

1. Improve the quality of healthy lifestyles among individuals and the community as a whole to achieve the “UAE Centennial 2071” vision of “Making the UAE the best country in the world”.
2. Strengthen leadership and governance capacities to accelerate the UAE’s response in promoting healthy lifestyles to prevent and combat health problems and diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles.
3. Enhance international support and cooperation, emphasizing the priority given to preventing and combating diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles at the global, regional, and national levels.
4. Support capacity building by strengthening structural, institutional, human, and healthcare system capabilities, redirecting them towards preventing modifiable risk factors for diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles, and combating them through people-centered healthcare.
5. Create healthy environments that promote the rights of individuals of all ages to equally benefit from safe environments, places, and spaces in society to reduce exposure to risk factors for diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles.
6. Enhance and support national capacities in high-level development and research related to preventing risk factors for diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles and combating them.
7. Monitor global and national trends and determinants related to diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles and assess the progress scored in prevention and control efforts.
8. Encourage multisectoral partnerships to ensure effective interventions preventing health issues and diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles.
9. Instill the concept of community partnership by boosting community members’ awareness on healthy lifestyle behaviors that would allow them to live longer and healthier lives. 

1. Governance –supporting leadership and building partnerships: 
   • Build and support social, financial, and administrative commitment. 
   • Strengthen coordination at all levels - including effective national partnerships and networks, and international cooperation.
   • Develop legislations that support healthy lifestyles.
   • Strengthen institutional capacities of health authorities and other relevant entities to empower them to mobilize resources and specialized talent.
2. Reducing preventable risk factors associated with lifestyle diseases:
   • Reduce unhealthy food consumption. 
   • Address sedentary lifestyles and the lack of physical activity.
   • Combat tobacco consumption with the aim of preventing this habit, to reduce the burden of diseases and deaths caused by complications attributed to the use of tobacco products.
   • Ensure the continuity of health services supporting the sustainability of healthy lifestyles during emergencies, disasters, and pandemics.
3. Enhancing community engagement and empowering community members:
   • Enable community members to make informed decisions about their personal health through adequate and continuous health education.
   • Engage the communities in planning, designing, and evaluating processes aiming to effectively promote healthy lifestyles.
4. Monitoring and evaluating trends and determinants of lifestyle-related diseases:
   • Strengthen monitoring for risk factors of diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles.
   • Gather information and provide statistics on risk factors and their determinants.
5. Enhancing research capabilities related to healthy lifestyle in the UAE:
   • Promote high-quality research procedures to prevent and respond to risk factors of lifestyle-related diseases.
6. Creating health-promoting environment in the UAE:
   • Develop supportive interventions and initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles through health-enhancing outdoor and indoor settings.
   • Maintain the safety of such environments.
     
      

1. Reduce indicators related to unhealthy lifestyles by 3% to 6%.
2. Enhancing the quality of healthy living for individuals and society to achieve the UAE Centennial Plan 2071 to "make the UAE the best country in the world by 2071."
3. Further enhance the UAE's global status in the healthcare sector and contribute to sustainable development in the country by providing comprehensive, innovative, and equal health services in line with best international standards.

Health authorities in the UAE, medical associations, international health organizations, academic and research institutions, private sector enterprises, and community members.