WHO official lauds Kingdom's model in mass medicine

A senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Kingdom has exerted strenuous efforts to provide state-of-the-art health care services, both preventive and curative, for its citizens as well as its guests (visiting the Kingdom annually for pilgrimage — Haj and Umrah).
The Assistant Director-General of the WHO for Health Security and Environment, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, made this statement following his meeting with Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah on the sidelines of the Sixty-fifth session of the World Health Assembly which is being held in Geneva till today (Saturday).
Fukuda also lauded the endeavors of the Ministry of Health to develop excellent health policies and mechanisms to protect citizens from diseases.
The official pointed out that he discussed with Al-Rabeeah the Kingdom's impressive efforts in the field of mass medicine, in the light of the fact that the WHO has become more concerned about handling masses in the new century.
“It has been noticed that many Third-World countries have to deal with large masses in a limited place for a short time; which raises and triggers many dilemmas and health troubles. Thereupon arises the importance of the Kingdom's experience in this domain,” he said, commenting on the Kingdom's initiative to adopt mass medicine.
Fukuda thanked the Kingdom for acting as a “center for excellence” in this field. He also sought the help of the Saudi minister to train health workers of such countries, and provide necessary information and experience in the field of mass medicine.
During the meeting, the two parties discussed the international efforts exerted in the field of public health all over the world with the aim to rationalize the use of antibiotics, considering the current challenges and concerns about the resistance of several microbes causing communicable diseases to antibiotics.
Meanwhile, the WHO report released during the assembly on the Eastern Mediterranean Region, said yesterday that the health status of the population of the Eastern Mediterranean Region is currently witnessing rapid changes as a result of social development, economic, demographic and epidemiological transitions.
The reports said life expectancy rate in the region had increased by 12 years between 1980 and 2007 to reach today 70 years, thus achieving the highest record in any region in the world. The mortality rate of children under the age of five, which was 100 deaths per 1,000 in 1990, has been reduced to 68 deaths per 1,000 in 2008.
During his speech at the assembly, Al-Rabeeah stressed that the issue of noncommunicable diseases, their prevention methods, and cooperation among countries in this respect are top on the Kingdom's agenda.
"With its deep experience, the Kingdom has proposed an initiative on the crowd medicine, and held a conference under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah two years ago where all international conferences including World Health Organization had participated," the minister said.
The initiative called for the creation of a training program (under the theme Crowd Medicine), with its headquarters in the Kingdom to benefit from its expertise in the health medical services offered for pilgrimages as a model to be followed for all human gatherings, in addition to holding a conference on Crowd Medicine every three years in cooperation with the Kingdom.
He said that the Kingdom has also put forward an initiative to combat blindness, and called upon the world to adopt several recommendations to reduce rates of blindness in the world.
Concluding his statement, the minister asserted that the Kingdom is deeply concerned with a number of issues already on the agenda of the World Health Assembly, including maternal and child health, best health finance means, Millennium Development Goals, and cooperation among countries to fight infectious diseases, especially in poorer countries.
Dr. Alaa Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said that the accumulated experiences and the calculated scientific measures learned by the Kingdom from direct dealing with Guests of God qualified the Kingdom to be a pioneer and leader of Crowd Medicine Science and an important reference in this field professionally and internationally.
The director praised the efforts taken by employees of the Ministry of Health in the field of fighting communicable and noncommunicable diseases alike.
"The region is entering a systematic transition phase with regard to the quality of technical support provided to the member states. The regional office has been able over the past months to draw the map for the health future in the Eastern Mediterranean Region," Alwan said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health will launch a health education program on Saturday (today) as part of its summer program.
Dr. Fatima Aljawan Director of Technical Affairs, Department of the rights of patients, is to answer questions about patients-relations and their rights from 10:00 a.m. till noon. She can be contacted on toll free number: 8002494444 — health education center in Riyadh.