KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Minister of Health Mohammad Barrak Al-Haifi has announced that the GCC health ministers have approved the Kuwaiti declaration on fighting non-contagious chronic diseases, as an action plan for the cooperation council for the arab states of the Gulf (GCC) member states.
The approval was made on the sidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) annual meeting being held in Geneva.
Kuwaiti Minister of Health Mohammad Barrak Al-Haifi announced in remarks to KUNA on Thursday on sidelines of the periodic meeting of GCC health ministers, held as part of the annual conference of World Health Organization (WHO), that this declaration was endorsed to avoid severe negative consequences from such diseases on people in the Gulf region.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health is always ready to offer advices to patients suffering from chronic diseases like obesity, heart diseases, blood diseases, or even smoking via various means such as (151) hotline or even on social networks namely Twitter.
The Kuwaiti declaration comes in accordance with the international work plan, and global reference of fighting non-contagious chronic diseases, and its related risk factors, besides spreading awareness through media.
GCC countries health ministers' adopted Dasman Diabetes Institute, affiliated to Kuwait Institute for Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), as one of the referential centers in dealing with non-contagious diseases, being a comprehensive institution for researches and treatment in its field of specialty.
The GCC countries are following joint approaches in enhancing effort to fight smoking and work hardly to spread awareness of its negative consequences, he affirmed.
This would include tightening sanctions on smokers in closed areas to protect safety and health of non-smokers and encourage smokers to quit this bad habit, he added.
The GCC countries health ministers also approved during their meeting a work plan for exchanging information between GCC countries regarding health condition of foreign workers to register any case of physical impairment in any of the Gulf states.
Moreover, they discussed efforts exerted in keeping the Gulf region clean form Malaria, as well as supporting Yemen's efforts in fighting this disease. (QNA)
