His Excellency the Minister of Health, Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, accompanied by His Excellency the Vice Minister of Health, Mr. Hamad bin Muhammad Al-Duwail‘, will lead the Saudi delegation participating in the 62nd session of the meetings of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Committee, which will be held over the period from October 5th to 8th, 2015, (corresponding to Dhul-Hijjah 22nd to 25th, 1436H), in Kuwait. The meetings will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, in the presence of the Director General of WHO, Dr. Margaret Chan, and the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr. Alaa Alwan.
For his part, Eng. Al-Falih has extended his thanks and appreciation to Kuwait, represented in its Ministry of Health, under His Excellency the Kuwaiti Minister of Health, Dr. Ali Al-Obaidi, for the exerted efforts, with regard to hosting the events of the 62nd session of the WHO Regional Committee meetings.
The meeting will discuss a number of health topics and issues, including the WHO Regional Director's Report 2014, the achievements of the region's countries, the challenges related to non-communicable diseases control, health security issues, hepatitis B/C infection, and the Global Sustainable Development Objectives (2015 - 2030).
Besides, the meeting will tackle health statistics, births and deaths registration systems, as well as systems of mental health and vaccinations. Furthermore, the meeting will touch upon the financial and administrative aspects, the follow-up of implementation of the decisions issued by the World Health Assembly and the WHO Executive Board in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It will also review reports of WHO Awards Committee and the health readiness and emergency plans.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Health, is so keen to participate in these WHO annual meetings, support its programs, commit itself to the decisions and recommendations of such meetings, contribute to the technical debates and discussions having to do with topics of priority for developing the national, regional and international health systems. This should come as no surprise, given that the Kingdom's efforts in controlling non-communicable diseases, such as cardiac diseases, diabetes, cancer, and hypertension, have come to constitute pioneering programs and expertise from which many countries in the region benefit.
It is worth mentioning that the delegation accompanying the Minister of Health will comprise a number of the MOH senior officials and specialists, who will present some working papers on the Kingdom’s efforts and achievements in controlling communicable diseases.