His Excellency Abdulrahman bin Mohammad Al-Owais, UAE Health Minister, has expressed his deep thanks to the Saudi Government for hosting of the 2nd International Conference for Mass Gathering Medicine, being held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, May Allah protect him, pointing out that such patronage emphasizes the support and attention paid by the rulers to the health sector.
Within the same vein, Mr. Al-Owais added that this Conference derives its importance from the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy as well as the participation of the League of Arab States, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, the World Health Organization (WHO), in addition to a number of Health Ministers from various countries, experts and scholars coming from different countries all over the world, and many international and regional organizations and institutions. Dr. Al-Owais affirmed that this Conference provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and overview the scientific and practical experiments, which were previously handled in similar circumstances, in such a manner promoting effective health procedures that are taken to deal with the mass gatherings and crowds during seasons of Umrah and Hajj.
Meanwhile, Mr. Al-Owais described the Kingdom's experience in the Hajj season as a unique experience, as the Kingdom manages the affairs of more than two million pilgrims within a limited geographic and time scope. Furthermore, Mr. Al-Owais emphasized that the UAE is confident of the health measures taken by the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) in dealing with the mass gatherings in the Hajj and Umrah season.
Mr. Al-Owais was concluded as saying, “We would like to extend our gratitude to His Excellency the Saudi Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, for paying interest to all the activities of this Conference, as well as harnessing all the preparations and arrangements for hosting and guaranteeing the success of the Conference in such a manner worthy of the standing of the Kingdom and its excellence in the organization of such global conferences. We would like also to extend our gratitude to the heads and members of the organizing committees, hoping for this scientific conference to achieve great success and accomplish the desired objectives.”
It is worth mentioning that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) participates in the Conference with a delegation headed by the Assistant Undersecretary for Health Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Health, Dr. Yusuf Al-Serkal, as well as the Director of Medical Services and the Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at Saqr Hospital, Dr. Yusuf Al-Tair, and the Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at Al-Qassimi Hospital, Dr. Zaki Al-Muzakki.