His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayyani, has affirmed that the health of Gulf citizens is paid thorough attention by the GCC leaders, as it stands at the top of their priorities. They take as an ultimate goal the provision of all the resources needed for the improvement of Gulf citizens' health and the creation of the safe and healthy environment, without which it would be inconceivable for the GCC states to attain the desired stability and prosperity.
This was stated by Dr. Al-Zayyani during his participation in the 75th regular meeting of the Executive Board of the GCC Health Ministers Council that launched yesterday at the Board Headquarters in Riyadh and continues for three days, under the chairmanship of Prof. Tawfik Khoja, Director-General of the Executive Board of the GCC Health Ministers Council.
Dr. Al-Zayyani's statement underscored the necessity of the creation of a safe and healthy environment for fostering the society's creativity and productivity. According to a Bahraini survey conducted among people of both genders aged 9-16 years, he said, one out of each five boys, and one out of each four girls suffer from obesity. This ratio, he continued, is alarming if compared to an old statistic (conducted some 25 years ago) showing that only one out of thirty boys and one out of twenty girls suffered from obesity.
Al-Zayyani said, “The continuation of the status quo means the expenditure of all our resources on health. In order to lower this rate of obesity, we need to heighten our citizens' health awareness.”
It followed that Dr. Al-Zayyani tackled diabetes, shedding light on the fact that five GCC states (UAE, KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman) were among the most afflicted countries with the diseases in 2010.
He also called for make every effort to diminish the rate of diabetes in the region, referring to a report showing that the mortality of diabetes is so high, that one person dies per 10 seconds owing to the disease.
Dr. Al-Zayyani, Secretary-General of the GCC, concluded his statement by commending the proficient members of the Executive Board of the GCC Health Ministers Council, under the chairmanship of Prof. Tawfik Khoja, to discuss the health issues of Gulf citizens, as it plays a significant role in the coordination and development of the GCC health joint action.