With the participation of His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, the Health Ministers from Korea, Yemen, Sudan, Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, and Indonesia, as well as Heads of Health Organizations and Disease Control Centers in Europe and USA, and the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the ministers and international experts have held the roundtable discussions which lasted for more than two hours. The roundtable discussion has been held as part of the activities of the Second International Conference for Mass Gatherings Medicine. It commenced today morning in Riyadh under the gracious patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. This discussion consisted of five key axes or issues on mass gatherings.
Within the same vein, the participants agreed on the importance of Mass Gathering Medicine, and that benefit should be taken from the Kingdom’s expertise in this regard. They also stressed on the importance of designing training programs for this new science, that would greatly benefit the international community. Furthermore, while discussing the second pillar, the experts focused on the importance of the epidemiological surveillance of the infected cases, and its effectiveness with regard to the early detection.
Moreover, the attendees also touched upon what information, regarding the Coronavirus, should be published on the websites of international scientific organizations and the world health ministries. This is the method used when dealing with such epidemics, taking into account the importance of recording information about the incidence of the virus, meanwhile reserving the right not to declare any personal information of the patients, nor to make it known by any means.
Under the fourth axis, the participants highlighted the importance of cooperation in the field of research and sharing samples between countries. This includes international scientific organizations, such as WHO and others. Emphasis was placed on commercial exploitation of patients, and the fact that everyone must share responsibility for the disease and cooperate and work towards preventing it.
Finally, all attendees were keen, under the fifth axis, that there should be a balance between the media and the documented scientific thesis, away from the media propaganda, arguing that the publication has to be based on the scientific references, which educate the reader and give him sound information based on transparency.