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Minister of Health Meets with WHO Director-General

20 May 2015

His Excellency the Minister of Health Eng. Khalid Al-Falih met in Geneva today with the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. The two sides discussed the Kingdom's success in combating Coronavirus, and the systems that have been introduced to the Kingdom to fight the epidemics which may spread in any country.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Eng. Al-Falih reaffirmed that the Kingdom is reckoned one of the most successful countries in the world, which effectively made use of its capabilities and sustainable systems to contain diseases and epidemics. Such achievements, he said, are attributed to the Saudi wide experience of receiving millions of pilgrims every year. Addressing the WHO Director-General, Eng. Al-Falih suggested harnessing the Kingdom's experience within an international program of diseases control, since the Kingdom has an excellent center for combating infectious and non-infectious diseases and epidemics.

Eng. Al-Falih said that he talked with Dr. Margaret Chan about turning the Kingdom into an international center for medicine education, including universities and medicine faculties, and also providing educational services for nurses, technicians and other specialists concerned with health care. "The medical education pyramid in general was tackled," he said.

He underscored close and continuous cooperation and relations between the Kingdom and the WHO, noting that such cooperation could be increased. He further hoped that the Kingdom will be a regional center for the Organization's services, urging the WHO to benefit from the Kingdom's capabilities in the health sector and the other governmental sectors, so wider to include other parts of the region. He explained that supporting the regional office in Riyadh is a joint objective for the Kingdom and the WHO. Al-Falih said that he invited Dr. Chan to visit the Kingdom to continue negotiations and cooperation.

He added that the previous days were so fruitful for the Saudi delegation participating in the WHO's General Assembly, as Saudi Arabia had wide participation in the general sessions and subcommittees, as well as several other regional meetings, such as the Arab Health Ministers' meeting, the get-together of the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region Office "EMRO" and today's meeting of the working group on global health security. He pointed out the Kingdom is playing a leading role in some areas that serve global health security. The Kingdom will take part tomorrow in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Health Ministers' meeting.