Riyadh city will host the GCC Health Economics Conference, which is organized by MOH under the patronage of the Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al-Mane. The conference will be convened in cooperation with the Executive Bureau of the GCC Council of Health Ministers, the Arabian Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND), and the World Health Organization (WHO), during the period from 3 to 5 Nov 2007, at King Faisal Conference Hall, under the slogan (Diabetes Economics, a Vital Investment).
The Health Management Consultant Dr. Rida Khaleel said the conference will concentrate on developing and updating the Gulf Program for Controlling Diabetes in accordance with present requirements and future ambitions. He said the issue of diabetes will be given priority within the plans of the GCC health ministries.
"The changes in life patterns occurring due to the high living standards in the GCC countries have imposed great challenges", he said. "They led to prevalence of such chronic diseases as diabetes, which is spreading in the form of an epidemic, thus imposing a great threatening at both national and Gulf levels".
He said the conference will shed light on the burden of diabetes on health systems and governments and the challenges it imposes. The new initiatives of promoting health and providing effective care in light with the costs incurred will also discussed.
He said MOH has formulated special protective, therapeutic, and rehabilitating programs for diabetes patients, denoting that a comprehensive plan including a national campaign for enlightening against the threatens and complications imposed by diabetes is on schedule.
He said the conference will support MOH plans aiming at raising health awareness and changing unhealthy practices through exercising a pressure of awareness in which all (individuals and corporations) will participate. "The economic aspect of diabetes represents a concern now to health officials in the Kingdom", he said. "Studies are now under way for determining the direct and indirect costs of diabetics, which can be achieved through evaluating the disease from all psychological, social, and economic points of view".
He expressed his hope that the conference will yield recommendations that contribute to developing health services provided to diabetic patients in the Gulf countries.