Minister of Public Health, HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, praised the resilience of Qatar’s healthcare sector during her address at the opening ceremony of the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2023.

HE Dr Al Kuwari was speaking at the opening of this year’s Middle East Forum at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort and Convention Hotel, where more than 3,000 healthcare professionals are gathering, in-person and virtually, for this year’s forum, the biggest event of its kind in the region dedicated to healthcare quality and safety.

 

HE Dr Al Kuwari said that as with many aspects of life, we had to change the way we do things throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including delivering the forum virtually.

But COVID-19 did not stop us; we just had to adapt and do things differently. This is a wonderful example of Healthcare Resilience in Extraordinary Times – the perfect theme for this year’s Forum.

The minister said that in Qatar, the healthcare sector is fortunate to be guided by the wise leadership of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, who emphasised resilience in all of the country’s plans and policies. This meant that as a country, Qatar is well positioned to successfully face challenges such as COVID-19.

And our National Vision 2030 has driven us to seek to excel in the delivery of healthcare to all those living in Qatar so that we can have a healthy thriving population.

The minister also praised how HH The Amir places great importance on global health security, with Qatar providing supplies to countries in crisis through its relief programmes such as the most recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Qatar’s COVID-19 response, FIFA World Cup

The healthcare sector’s response to COVID-19 has been central to the country having one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates and one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world.

HE Dr Al Kuwari also highlighted the healthcare sector’s contribution to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – which, after 12 years of planning and preparation under the vision and direction of Qatar leaders, the nation hosted a truly incredible tournament that was widely acclaimed as the greatest ever FIFA World Cup.

She said that many sectors from across Qatar played an important role in the tournament’s success and as a healthcare system, they were at the forefront of these efforts.

She added that the planning, preparation and delivery of a comprehensive FIFA World Cup strategy required a truly incredible effort from healthcare teams across the sector. She said she is deeply grateful to everyone who played their part in the remarkable accomplishment.

The Minister highlighted several of the health sector’s key achievements since 2020:

  • Opening of the Aisha Bint Hamad Al Attiyah Hospital, the second largest HMC hospital in terms of size and capacity.
  • Opening of six new state-of-the-art health and wellness centres, taking the total number of health centres to 31 and improving care provision in the community.
  • Achieving the Healthy City status from the World Health Organization (WHO) for all eight municipalities, and becoming the first country in the world to achieve the status for all its municipalities, in addition to similar awards for Qatar University and Education City.
  • Designation of the HMC Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care as a WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia, in addition to Collaborating Center agreements for the WHO Collaborating Center for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Viral Hepatitis with Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, and the WHO Collaborating Center for Treating Tobacco Dependence with the HMC Tobacco Control Center.
  • Implementing a range of telemedicine and virtual services across the public health sector, including the National Mental Health Helpline, which makes access to care more convenient than ever before.
  • Gaining Planetree International Certification for Excellence in Person-Centred Care at five HMC facilities, formally recognising the highest levels of achievement in person-centred care.
  • Having four HMC hospitals and Sidra Medicine ranked among the world’s top 250 academic medical centres, highlighting the health sector’s commitment to combining patient care, medical research and education to achieve the best outcomes and experience for patients.

HE Dr Al Kuwari said that despite these incredible achievements, they are committed to constantly moving forward. Throughout 2023, she said that they will focus their efforts on implementing the new National Insurance Program, providing fast access to care for patients and ensuring Qatar’s healthcare system continues to be a regional leader for quality and safety in healthcare, delivering services on par with the world’s best health systems.

Five learning tracks in this year’s forum

  • Improvement science
  • Person-centred care
  • Flow, safety and value improvement
  • Leadership, resilience and sustainability
  • Population health

For more information on this year’s forum, visit MEF2023.hamad.qa.

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