RIYADH, 30 March 2005 — The Kingdom is to focus on the health care of mother and children in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) slogan “Make Every Mother and Child Count” for World Health Day.
“More than 50 percent of the Saudi population are mothers and children; therefore, we have to concentrate more on providing adequate health care facilities for that section of the population,” said Dr. Mansoor Naser Al-Howasi, deputy minister of health for executive affairs, at the start of World Health Week celebrations in the Kingdom yesterday.
He was addressing more than 300 men and women delegates at the beginning of the two-day seminar “Toward a Better Environment for the Child” and “Healthy Cities,” held at the Prince Salman Social Center.
He noted that the Ministry of Health is dedicated to looking after the health of the population and will do its best to provide high quality health care facilities for the people.
“The Kingdom has been a good partner of WHO ever since it became a member,” said Dr. Awad Abu Zeid Mukhtar, WHO representative for Saudi Arabia. “We have several projects in the Kingdom that are being carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Health.”
WHO is working with the ministry on projects regarding communicable and non-communicable diseases, urban health, international health accounts and several other areas of interest.
He said 2005 is a critical year for maternal, neonatal and child health around the globe.
K. Khosh-Chashm, a WHO consultant, said the Kingdom has been exemplary in the region with its model “healthy cities” program.
“It has 20 healthy cities to its credit, and it further plans to set up more with the support of the WHO,” he added.
Speaking about childcare, Khosh-Chashm pointed out that there has been a conspicuous shift from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases where children become victims of behavioral disorders such as obesity.
He noted that child health invariably is affected by physical and social environment, stressing the need for peaceful and healthy homes. Such homes, he said, help build the character of children.
“They should be protected against air pollution, contaminated water and hazards of chemicals.”
The deputy minister of health for preventive medicine, Dr. Yacoub Al-Mazrou, said the ministry will organize a series of programs this week at hospitals, universities, colleges and other public- and private-sector institutions to spread the message of the World Health Day.
“The week will also concentrate on improving the facilities in the 20 healthy cities in the Kingdom,” Dr. Mazrou said, adding that the healthy cities program, which began in 1988 in cooperation with the WHO, was an ambitious project to improve the health and environment of remote towns in the Kingdom. The program, which started with Bukhariyah town in Qassim region, is being carried out with teamwork and continuous innovation by residents and officials from both the public and private sectors.
