A day to celebrate unity, loyalty, achievements

HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari has stressed that the Qatar National Day, with its lofty contents, promotes the authentic values of our dear compatriots that have been inherited through generations and derived from our religion and glorious history, to celebrate the unity and harmony of all the people of Qatar and their love and loyalty to the dear homeland and the wise leadership.
In a statement to Qatar news agency (QNA), she said these values are the basis of the Qatari personality and the pillar of renaissance, which elevates the human being to achieve sustainable development that takes into account the needs of the generation and future generations.
She added the slogan of this year’s National Day ‘Our Unity Source of Our Strength’ quoted from a speech by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, embodies an aspect of the authentic values, adding that unity and love among the Qatari people and their wise leadership are the sources of strength and the basis for building this dear homeland and its progress on solid foundations.
HE the Minister highlighted that what distinguishes our National Day celebrations this year is that it coincides with Qatar’s hosting of the biggest football sports tournament, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and welcoming the world to the most popular football event, explaining that this would contribute to familiarising the world with Qatar’s culture, glorious history, values of tolerance, honouring the guest and openness to other cultures while cherishing Qatari identity and values.
She confirmed that the successful and impressive hosting of this international sporting event represents another success story for Qatar and demonstrates the great progress it has achieved in various fields, which has made it a global role model, clarifying that Qatar has been keen to immortalise this occasion in organising the best football World Cup tournament, creating a legacy that benefits globally and investing this event in order to promote health and health security, in addition to the convergence of cultures and the promotion of lofty human values.
On this occasion, the minister spoke about the achievements of the health sector in Qatar and said that the country has established a strong health system at a high and global level, thanks to the unlimited support of the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, adding that the Ministry of Public Health and its partners are working to improve the health of the Qatari community in accordance with its health strategies aimed at achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.
She explained that the health system in Qatar is centred on the importance of all members of society having access to high-quality healthcare through hospitals equipped with the latest modern medical technologies, the expansion of the opening of primary healthcare centres throughout the country, the development of services, and an efficient workforce to ensure that all members of society receive advanced care, and achieve the health and well-being of the population, underlining that the number of hospitals in the public sector has increased to 16 hospitals this year compared to 6 hospitals in 2011 when the first national health strategy was launched.
She recalled that in November 2022, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani opened Aisha bint Hamad Al-Attiyah hospital, which is the second largest hospital in Hamad Medical Corp after Hamad General Hospital in terms of size and capacity, adding that during this year, new facilities were also opened and established at Hamad Medical Corp, most notably Al Maha Pediatric Specialised Care Center, the permanent intensive care unit, the physiotherapy and orthopaedic unit, a specialised smoking cessation clinic, the Advanced Wound Care Center, as well as the expansion of the area dedicated to assessing the female health status in Hamad Medical Corporation’s emergency and accident centre by 60%, expanding Speech Therapy Unit for children with the addition of 12 treatment rooms at Qatar Rehabilitation Center.
The number of health centres in the public sector, including centres affiliated with the Primary Health Care Corp (PHCC) managed by the Qatar Red Crescent in accordance with an agreement with the Ministry of Public Health, increased to 33 centres during the current year, distributed across different regions of the country, compared to 24 centres in 2011.
This year witnessed the opening of a number of health centres, including Al-Mashaf Health Center with a capacity of about 35,000 to 50,000 references, and Al-Khor Health Center was opened in its new location, with a capacity of 50,000 references.
The private health sector witnessed a significant expansion, as the number of its facilities increased during the current year to reach 10 hospitals, 19 day surgery centres, 390 general and specialised health centres, including dental centres, in addition to 31 diagnostic centres, including medical laboratories, diagnostic radiology centres, and dental laboratories.
The number of health workers in the public and private sectors has also increased to 46,371 health workers this year compared to 20,682 health workers in 2011.
Dr al-Kuwari noted that the development witnessed by the health sector in the country and the concerted efforts of the state and society sectors contributed to the effective and flexible response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as the state was able to control the outbreak of Covid-19 among community members by following the best scientifically based policies, including isolation, quarantine and travel policies, in addition to free testing and vaccination, while continuing to provide regular health services in innovative ways to all patients.
The minister said as a result of the adoption of health in all policies as a strategic priority, Qatar is the first country to receive the title of Health City from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Health City Program supports the health and well-being of the population through the work of all sectors together to enhance public health measures in everyday environments.
In order to develop co-operation between the state and the WHO, the WHO office in Qatar was opened to strengthen the organisation’s work with the health authorities in Qatar, and many partners at the national level, such as UN agencies and other relevant authorities.
She said that in addition to the great work of the efficient health response to the requirements of hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the ministry has been keen to create a sustainable legacy of health and sports that benefits locally and globally, reviewing the most important achievements in this regard, including the signing of a 3-year partnership agreement between the Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organisation, FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in October 2021, in order to improve the availability of healthcare and promote healthy lifestyles throughout the country during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which resulted in a range of activities including strengthening health security, health communication and health promotion in relation to physical activity, healthy nutrition, mental health, and tobacco control.
In addition to the services available at regular healthcare facilities and locations, health services were provided to fans through more than 100 clinics in stadiums, fan areas and accommodations, 110 ambulances, and 212 mobile medical units, while 2,275 employees worked in providing health services at the World Cup sites, another 4 hospitals affiliated to Hamad Medical Corp were allocated for urgent non-emergency patients, namely Aisha bint Hamad Al-Attiyah hospital, Al Wakra Hospital, Hamad General Hospital, Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, in addition to launching the World Cup website to provide participants and fans with health information and enable easy access to medical services.
She felt that one of the great achievements of the ministry is the integrated healthcare and comprehensive co-operative approach adopted to enhance patient care, along with the various aspects of physical, psychological and behavioural healthcare that have formed the pinnacle of the quality of care provided, comprehensive treatment is also provided and emphasis placed on the preventive side through the integrated care approach to provide multidisciplinary care while maintaining transparency through information exchange, in addition to improving and developing services for the most needy groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly, children, and mental health, noting that the approach of the National Health Strategy focuses on providing timely care, by the right person in the most appropriate place.
On the other hand, life expectancy in Qatar has witnessed an increase as improving and raising the level of public health among individuals, through an integrated and comprehensive system that provides effective and sustainable solutions to current and future challenges to public health, in co-operation with all health sectors, has a positive impact on the rise in the average human life in Qatar. (QNA)