Minister of Public Health H E Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud participating in the 79th World Health Assembly, in Geneva.
Doha, Qatar: Minister of Public Health H E Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud stated that Qatar is addressing global health challenges through three priorities: strengthening emergency preparedness and fully implementing the International Health Regulations; investing in primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage; and embracing innovation, including artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and new technologies, within an ethical framework that protects human dignity and rights.
He emphasised that innovation should promote equity and must not increase disparities in health care worldwide.
He delivered these remarks at the Seventy-Ninth World Health Assembly, which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, until May 23.
The Minister observed that achieving universal health coverage remains an unmet global objective, as health systems are still burdened by emergencies, climate shocks, antimicrobial resistance, and noncommunicable diseases.
The Minister of Public Health said, “As the United Nations prepares to celebrate its eightieth anniversary, we support strengthening cohesion within the international multilateral system, achieving alignment between humanitarian response efforts and the requirements of sustainable development, and working to ensure sustainable financing that enables the World Health Organisation and the broader UN system to deliver tangible impact and results that matter to us all. There is no alternative to a strong and effective World Health Organisation. It must be efficiently managed and sustainably funded.”
He added: “There is no doubt that these objectives cannot be achieved without a strong and effective World Health Organization, which must be efficiently managed and sustainably funded, whose benefits extend to the entire world and for which there is no substitute.”
The Minister of Public Health met separately with Federal Minister of Health of the Republic of Sudan, H E Dr. Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim; Minister of Health of the Syrian Arab Republic H E Dr. Musab Nazzal Al Ali; and Minister of Health of the Lebanese Republic H E Dr. Rakan Nasser Al Din. The meetings reviewed relations of cooperation between the State of Qatar and their countries, and ways to further strengthen them in the health sector, as well as the main issues under discussion at the World Health Assembly, currently being held in Geneva.
