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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
THE Doha declaration for Qatar’s public health system, which seeks to ensure that all sectors work together for a better health for everyone in the country, was released on Tuesday at the closing ceremony of the inaugural Qatar Public Health Conference (QPHC).
The two-day conference organised by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), was themed ‘10 Years of Public Health: Looking back, moving forward’. More than 50 local, regional and international speakers from ministries, medical and academic institutions, and lead public health institutions from around the world participated in the conference, which brought together over 500 participants from different sectors.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Director of Public Health Department at the MoPH Sheikh Dr Mohamed al Thani said, “Many of you signed our public health declaration which reaffirms our commitment to improving public health and the well-being of Qatar and its residents. We as the public health community are accountable for the implementation of this declaration.”
Prominent among those who participated in the conference included experts from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, US; Imperial College London, Fiocruz from Brazil; Public Health England (PHE); and CDC Atlanta, among others.
Dr al Thani said that along with their local public health family, he was delighted to have their international partners to join them, including JHU, CDC, PHE and Imperial College London. “We look forward to ongoing collaboration with all of you to address Qatar’s public health challenges and learn about international best practices and to implement solutions that are applicable to Qatar’s context.”
Thanking the participants, he remarked, “The energy, enthusiasm and passion over the last two days have been truly inspiring and show that the future of public health in this country is brighter than ever.”
The aim of Qatar’s first biennial public health conference, he noted, was to bring together the public health community to meet, discuss and share innovative ideas and build long-standing partnerships.
“I hope you all made the most of this opportunity and enjoyed the panels, workshops and presentations while taking time to talk to each other and build your networks”, he said.
The workshops at the conference discussed issues such as ‘Lifestyle medicine: New methods for healthcare delivery’, ‘International lessons learned on food safety risk analysis, regional plans, and implications for Qatar’, ‘Public health surveillance: International best practice and Qatar’s journey to the Surveillance and Vaccination Electronic System (SaVES)’, ‘Measles elimination and antimicrobial resistance’, ‘Diabetes in Qatar: Achieving world-class results’, and ‘Occupational safety and health in Qatar: From craft and manual workers’ healthcare service provision to the development of a national policy.’
The presentations also reviewed‘Qatar’s cancer screening programme: A public health success story’, ‘Public health research findings and their impact on well-being and policy in Qatar’, ‘Ambient air quality and health’, ‘Public health awareness’, ‘Tobacco control and smoking cessation services in Qatar’, ‘Vaccine promotion and awareness’, ‘Dementia – Reducing the risk through prevention’, ‘Mental health awareness and attitudes in Qatar’, and Qatar National Tuberculosis Strategy and Action Plan’, among others.
DOHA
THE Doha declaration for Qatar’s public health system, which seeks to ensure that all sectors work together for a better health for everyone in the country, was released on Tuesday at the closing ceremony of the inaugural Qatar Public Health Conference (QPHC).
The two-day conference organised by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), was themed ‘10 Years of Public Health: Looking back, moving forward’. More than 50 local, regional and international speakers from ministries, medical and academic institutions, and lead public health institutions from around the world participated in the conference, which brought together over 500 participants from different sectors.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Director of Public Health Department at the MoPH Sheikh Dr Mohamed al Thani said, “Many of you signed our public health declaration which reaffirms our commitment to improving public health and the well-being of Qatar and its residents. We as the public health community are accountable for the implementation of this declaration.”
Prominent among those who participated in the conference included experts from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, US; Imperial College London, Fiocruz from Brazil; Public Health England (PHE); and CDC Atlanta, among others.
Dr al Thani said that along with their local public health family, he was delighted to have their international partners to join them, including JHU, CDC, PHE and Imperial College London. “We look forward to ongoing collaboration with all of you to address Qatar’s public health challenges and learn about international best practices and to implement solutions that are applicable to Qatar’s context.”
Thanking the participants, he remarked, “The energy, enthusiasm and passion over the last two days have been truly inspiring and show that the future of public health in this country is brighter than ever.”
The aim of Qatar’s first biennial public health conference, he noted, was to bring together the public health community to meet, discuss and share innovative ideas and build long-standing partnerships.
“I hope you all made the most of this opportunity and enjoyed the panels, workshops and presentations while taking time to talk to each other and build your networks”, he said.
The workshops at the conference discussed issues such as ‘Lifestyle medicine: New methods for healthcare delivery’, ‘International lessons learned on food safety risk analysis, regional plans, and implications for Qatar’, ‘Public health surveillance: International best practice and Qatar’s journey to the Surveillance and Vaccination Electronic System (SaVES)’, ‘Measles elimination and antimicrobial resistance’, ‘Diabetes in Qatar: Achieving world-class results’, and ‘Occupational safety and health in Qatar: From craft and manual workers’ healthcare service provision to the development of a national policy.’
The presentations also reviewed‘Qatar’s cancer screening programme: A public health success story’, ‘Public health research findings and their impact on well-being and policy in Qatar’, ‘Ambient air quality and health’, ‘Public health awareness’, ‘Tobacco control and smoking cessation services in Qatar’, ‘Vaccine promotion and awareness’, ‘Dementia – Reducing the risk through prevention’, ‘Mental health awareness and attitudes in Qatar’, and Qatar National Tuberculosis Strategy and Action Plan’, among others.
