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Al-Thani: The GCC Health Ministers Conference will discuss E-Health, Workers Health and Occupational Health
03 February 2015
His Excellency the Director of Public Health in Qatar and the Member of the Executive Board of the GCC Health Ministers Council, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani, underlined that ministers of health in GCC countries are very keen during their annual meetings to touch upon various issues of interest to the citizens and residents in the Council countries.
 
He said that the GCC health ministers will discuss in the conference, which will kick off tomorrow, a number of significant issues on the agenda including unified procurement and ways to improve it as it has facilitated and offered more financial savings for the countries via a codified system adopted at the level of GCC countries and developed each year.
 
"In addition, the meeting," according to Sheikh Al-Thani, "will discuss the (GAMCA) system, which is meant to link the worldwide accredited medical examination centers of expatriates to a joint database, under the supervision of the Executive Board, as well as fighting non-communicable diseases as an important indicator for the protection against Ebola and Corona, and developing the Executive Board as such a thing is of a great importance."
 
He went on saying that the significant issues, which will be discussed during the conference, include also the e-health conferences, workers health, and protection of occupational health in addition to various significant issues.
 
Within the same vein, Sheikh Al-Thani emphasized that one of the major challenges faced by GCC countries during the past period is the shocking Coronavirus as an endemic disease in the region. "However, there is currently, thanks to Allah, Gulf coordination for preventing and strengthening the immunity systems of persons, as well as controlling infections and reducing rates of infection transmission at hospitals as noticed before," he said, adding that Coronavirus will accordingly be a matter of extensive debate in the conference. "We have learnt in the last period that the discovered cases do not vanish as in the past by finding preventive ways to reduce them," he explained.
 
Additionally, Sheikh Al-Thani pointed out that the recent onset of Ebola, in addition to following up its status in Africa is "another challenge for us in the region". He added, "There is coordination at the airports and we have provided training for all the workers in the Gulf region. We are ready to deal with any emerging case in any GCC country and control each single case as long as the disease in not fast-spreading, but we have to provide the necessary protection to prevent the spreading of the disease upon its emergence at hospitals," he elaborated.
 
Further, Sheikh Al-Thani lauded the health services provided in the Gulf region, branding them as the best services provided at the level of the Arab world and the Middle East regardless of some criticism, however, the steady increase in the number of population and foreign workers necessitates increasing the beds and the campaigns for supporting primary healthcare centers, in addition to setting continuous programs for ensuring safety of the patients.
 
Concluding his speech, Sheikh Al-Thani said that such conferences are very important for the region. "I hope the GCC countries would witness continuous development in the health field and an increase in the average age of the Gulf citizens," he concluded.
 
 
 
 



Last Update : 08 February 2015 11:59 AM
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