Egypt organizes cycling marathon to spread awareness on adolescent mental health

CAIRO – 27 August 2021: The Ministry of Health and Population announced the launch of a cycling marathon this Friday morning as part of spreading awareness on mental health concepts among adolescents, coinciding with the start of the year of adolescent mental health 2021/2022.

Assistant Minister of Health and Population for Information and Awareness and the official spokesperson for the ministry Khaled Megahed explained that 100 citizens participated in the marathon, which started from Abbasiya Hospital for Mental Health, to Maryland Park in Heliopolis, which is a distance of 12 kilometers back and forth.

He noted that this marathon was launched under the supervision of the General Secretariat for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment, and all anti-COVID preventive and precautionary measures were taken during the participation in the marathon. He added that, during the event, participants were keen to take photos to celebrate the Year of Adolescent Mental Health.

For her part, Dr. Menan Abdel-Maqsoud, Secretary-General of the General Secretariat for Mental Health, affirmed the ministry’s keenness to take care of adolescents and their families, and to provide all means of psychological support to improve the level of mental health for adolescents.

The year 2021/2022 was declared the year of adolescent mental health, pointing out that the General Secretariat of Mental Health Psychological aims to address the negative psychological effects of the Corona pandemic on adolescents, prepare them for the post-pandemic stage and facilitate their integration through the organization of sports events.

Dr. Menan indicated that after the marathon, an educational symposium was organized inside one of the Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital halls, discussing how to deal with these psychological crises in healthy ways, pointing out that the symposium tackled the symptoms and causes of mental illness hyperactivity (ADHD), where its symptoms are: (excessive activity, attention deficit) poor memory, and excessive impulsivity).

Dr. Menan added that a field tour was conducted inside the Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital, to familiarize the participants in the marathon with the history of the establishment of the hospital, and its pivotal role in containing and providing care for patients with mental illnesses, in addition to its role in providing psychological support services in various ways.