Qatar highlights sustainability, food security efforts at Expo Milano 2015

Qatar is showcasing its national commitment to environmental sustainability and healthy, plentiful food for all as part of the Weill Cornell Medical College’s (WCMC-Q) Qatar Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015; Expo Milano is this year’s World’s Fair and is one of the biggest events of its kind in the world, with more than 140 participating countries and 20 million visitors over a six-month period.

The theme for this year’s expo is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” a conversation top Qatari officials are keen to enter.

The college was invited to take part in the expo based on its groundbreaking Sahtak Awalan health campaign, which has been promoting health issues, organic food and sustainability to young people and the wider Qatar community for the last three years.

The Sahtak Awalan campaign attempts to explain how to prevent disorders like obesity and diabetes. These same issues are now being highlighted to a global audience at Expo Milano.

Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCMC-Q, said Expo Milano was a wonderful opportunity to show the world Qatar’s commitment to food sustainability coupled with improving health in the region -- the contribution that WCMC-Q is making toward this vision.

“Qatar is a desert country and so has huge interest in food sustainability,” Sheikh said. “Work conducted by WCMC-Q’s Genomics Core will add to this by ensuring the future viability of the date palm. Qatar is also leading the way regionally in research into lifestyle disorders like diabetes, obesity and heart disease.”