- Consumer outreach addressing Saudi health issues and lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes

- Features a dedicated interactive Arabic online portal focusing on health issues - healthymagination.me

- 'Health & Wellness' data visualization gives insight into health habits and behavior of Saudi consumer

Riyadh, November 30th, 2010:  Further to the strategic cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Health aimed at supporting Saudi Arabia's goal of building a healthy and sustainable society, GE is rolling out a nation-wide educational campaign under its healthymagination initiative.  Healthymagination is GE's global commitment to create better health for more people by expanding access to quality care at lower costs.

The Saudi-focused consumer outreach titled "Long Live You", aims at raising the public's health awareness and promoting the importance of healthy habits. GE's campaign utilizes both online and social networking media to engage the Saudi public in an active conversation in order to share healthcare knowledge and encourage the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

GE recently conducted a 'Health & Wellness' research in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, featuring 600 face-to-face interviews with Saudi women and men between 20 and 45 years old focused on understanding their health habits, behavior and attitudes. The key findings revealed that there is a large gap in the Saudi public's perception of their health versus the reality. For example, about 91% of Saudis who were surveyed consider themselves to be having "excellent/good health". In reality, about 58% of this group are either overweight or obese. The Kingdom is facing increasing health issues such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes, many of which are preventable by making the right lifestyle choices.

GE's integrated campaign aims to close this perception gap as well as encourage the Saudi public to adopt a preventative approach towards their health. To facilitate increased public access to health-related knowledge and healthy living habits, GE has created a website,www.healthymagination.me, which is available in both Arabic and English.

This interactive website is intended to serve as a key resource for the public on the simple steps they can take to be on track towards a healthier lifestyle. In addition to regular Health & Fitness' and 'Food & Nutrition' sections, the site will highlight topical monthly features such as 'Healthy Eid' and 'Health Resolutions'. The site also hosts a data visualization tool, which presents the findings of the 'Health & Wellness' research in an interactive manner. Visitors can make use of the data visualization tool to see where they stand in relation to the Saudi population in terms of their individual health.

In addition, the website pays tribute to the role of females as the primary caregiver and nurturer in the family. By empowering women with even more information, www.healthymagination.me will support women in Saudi in making better and healthier choices for themselves and their families.

In order to expand this healthcare conversation between GE and the Saudi public, GE's healthymagination campaign includes a number of social networking platforms such as Twitter (http://twitter.com/Li9o7etna) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/healthymagination.me )

Majid Kaddoumi, General Manager of GE Healthcare Saudi Arabia, said, "Healthcare in Saudi Arabia is seeing massive investment and growth.  To complement this, we have developed a consumer campaign, which seeks to inform the Saudi public and raise awareness of measures they can take to lead a healthier life and prevent illness.  We are also cooperating with the Saudi Ministry of Health to ensure our efforts are aligned to the Kingdom's goals. "

This campaign is further testament to GE building on its long heritage of strong collaboration in Saudi Arabia. Through healthymagination, and in partnership with the Ministry of Health, GE will apply proven solutions and innovative technologies to make better, more affordable health a reality for the Kingdom's population.

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© Press Release 2010