The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and six other Arab countries including Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Bahrain, Mauritania and Morocco, the organizing country, will participate in a regional training workshop, which will be held on June 25 and 26 at the International University in Rabat, Morocco. The health examination will cover 200 male and female players in 6 disciplines; open eyes, health promotion, special smiles, healthy hearing, MedFest and mental health, in addition to lectures. The lectures and the training will be delivered by three experts in health programs; Dr. Ali Al-Farhan from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Adib Jaber from Lebanon and Dr. Ilham Abbas from the UAE. The regional workshop comes in preparation for the participation of 22 countries from the region in the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. The Director of Health Programs at the International Special Olympics, Leila El-Shenawy said that the establishment of a regional workshop for health programs is a starting point for the return of the actual activities of the Special Olympics after a two-year hiatus due to the Coronavirus, adding that "Although the activity continued to held "remotely" through the Zoom application, the actual courses and the health examinations of the players and before they participate in sporting events is very important, as the Special Olympics is keen that the Special Olympics player participates, whether in training or special games and competitions, while he is in full physical fitness". She added: "The training plan for health programs approved by the Regional President of the International Special Olympics, Engineer Ayman Abdel Wahab, aims to expand regional courses in health programs that were held at the end of December 2021 in the Kingdom and will continue until the launch of the World Games in Berlin 2023, to ensure that all players who will participate in those World Games are healthy, in addition to the periodic health examination of the players in the various programs implemented in the region".
