<figcaption> Credit: © Marty Heitner</figcaption>
Credit: © Marty Heitner

Abu-Bakr Mohammaed ibn-Zakaria Al-Razi (841-926 AD) described health as "the art concerned in preserving healthy bodies, combating disease and restoring health to the sick." This Persian quote is one of the earliest recognitions of the importance of prevention.

In the 57 Islamic Nations of the Organization of the Islamic Convention Countries (OIC) there has been a health transition. Almost all countries have seen a 20 year increase in life expectancy since WWII which is almost entirely due to prevention. Most of prevention is education.

As people in OIC countries live longer, there has been a rapid rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). We propose to marry NCD prevention education with information technology in Islamic countries to systematically prevent NCDs. To do this, we will establish an OIC Supercourse.

The parent Supercourse (www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec32301/index.htm) is a global web-based network of experts in prevention...

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