Her Excellency expressed her pride that the State of Qatar is considered the first country in the world to have all its municipalities obtain the title of Healthy City from the World Health Organization.
She said that in the field of quality, the State of Qatar is the first country after the United States to obtain international accreditation for public health services at the national level from the American Board for Public Health Accreditation Services, in addition to the high-level accreditations for our health institutions such as the accreditation of the Hamad Medical Corporation hospital network and Sidra Hospital by the Joint Commission International (JCI), five hospitals in Qatar being ranked among the top 250 academic medical centers in the world, and the Primary Health Care Corporation obtaining Canadian accreditation according to diamond level accreditation standards for all four health centers, which are operated and managed based on a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Public Health.
The Ministry of Public Health also received the World Health Organization Award for World No Tobacco Day.
The first phase of the health insurance system targeting visitors to the country was launched, in implementation of the provisions of Law No. (22) of 2021 regulating health care services within the State of Qatar. The health insurance system aims to support the development and organization of the health care sector in the country, improve the populations health and their access to basic care services through an effective and sustainable health care system, and regulate health care spending.
In addition, several health care programs and services have been developed. The organ transplant program has been developed to currently include lung transplant operations in addition to kidney and liver transplant surgeries, making the program one of the most comprehensive programs in the region, and specialized clinics have been opened in several health centers to facilitate patients' access to it.
Hamad Medical Corporation's ambulance service succeeded in achieving a response rate higher than the targets set for response time to emergency calls and aiding emergency cases for the eleventh year in a row, it reaches the goal set in the first National Health Strategy (to achieve an average arrival to the scene of an incident within 10 minutes in urban areas and 15 minutes in external areas for up to 75% of emergency calls).
The ambulance service fleet includes air ambulances (helicopters), advanced ambulances, rapid response vehicles, four-wheel drive vehicles equipped for sand dunes and rugged areas, and bicycles that are used in parks and gardens.
In the field of technological development, HE Minister of Public Health Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari explained that e-health services have been enhanced, which has made the health care system connected through electronic systems that ensure the ability of medical teams to access patient records in various facilities of the public health care system, in addition to providing telemedicine services and home delivery of medicine.
The Ministry of Public Health launched the new version of the Qatar National Formulary (QNF) via the Ministrys website, which is considered a national database that provides comprehensive and updated information on drug information, drug registration status, regulations, and guidelines. The list includes more than 4,000 officially registered drugs and is updated monthly.
In addition to this, several electronic systems include the "Wathiq" food safety system, which enhances the efficiency of the food safety department in tracking food throughout the entire food chain, the Qatar Cancer Information Center, which is considered the national reference for information related to cancer in the State of Qatar, and many important projects in the fields of information systems and e-health.
In the field of international cooperation, and as a result of the pioneering role played by the State of Qatar at the international level, and its strong support for the World Health Organization in performing its tasks of promoting health and wellness for all, the Executive Council of the World Health Organization elected the State of Qatar on May 31, 2023 as President of the Council at its 153rd session for a term.
The World Health Organization also selected three centers in the State of Qatar to collaborate with the organization: The Geriatric and Long-term Service Department at Hamad Medical Corporation - the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Healthy Aging and Dementia (2023), Hamad Medical Corporation Tobacco Control Center - WHO Collaborating Centre for Smoking Cessation and Treatment of Tobacco Dependence (2017) and Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar - WHO Collaborating Center for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis (2020).
The role of these centers is to support WHO and countries around the world in improving health care in these topics. The Ministry of Public Health also signed a memorandum of practical arrangements with the International Atomic Energy Agency in the fields of radiation medicine and food safety, with the aim of establishing a framework for (non-exclusive) cooperation between the State of Qatar and the International Atomic Energy Agency in the field of human health.
Source: Qatar News Agency