Under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar has extended support to several countries and organizations to help them fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Her Excellency the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari highlighted yesterday.

HE the Minister underlined this during her speech at the World Health Assembly (WHA).

“Qatar has allocated $20 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and, more recently, Qatar signed a $10 million core contribution agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) to support WHO’s Thirteenth General Program of Work (GPW13) and the initiative of accelerating the access to COVID-19 tools in countries most in need,” she mentioned.

HE Dr Al Kuwari, who had been elected as vice-president of WHA’s  74th session, is heading Qatar’s delegation at the Assembly that will run until June 1, virtually.

HE the Minister said the pandemic has clearly demonstrated that health security is a joint responsibility and essential to achieving the goals of sustainable development.

Qatar has developed a comprehensive strategy to protect its population from the risks of COVID-19.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, we realized the need for adopting a cross-government holistic approach, implementing robust national governance, depending on science and facts, and engaging the general public," she said.

"Our high-quality healthcare system, which is based on universal health coverage, has put in place strong emergency preparedness and resilient plans, and responded to this challenge with determination and commitment. Despite facing very intense epidemic waves, we have been able to keep death rate to lowest levels.

“Our National Covid-19 Vaccination Program, which prioritized our elderlies and other high-risk groups of the population, is proceeding at an accelerated pace, and well over 50 percent of Qatar's adult population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine."

As new variants of the virus continue to emerge, vaccine and treatment developments as well scientific collaborations are essential, HE the Minister pointed out.

“Throughout the course of the pandemic our response, our decisions and choices has been guided by the science. On the basis of the assessment of our doctors and scientists, in a number of cases we have applied innovative decisions in the control of the epidemic in anticipation of international practices and protocols such as the duration of isolation for affected cases, the time-based criteria for release from isolation and the use of the viral load to guide the management of cases,” she noted.

“Our scientists have contributed extensively to a better understanding of the pandemic at the international level," she continued.

"Thanks to our extensive database of electronic medical records, several scientific research have been carried out and published in prestigious international journals ranging, for example, from the efficiency of the vaccine against variants to the duration of the immunity.”

HE the Minister asserted that during these difficult times, health systems must not be weakened or compromised.

She called on the WHO and the international community to support the health emergency in Palestine so that Palestinians can receive the needed health services, and to provide them with the necessary aids and supplies.

--

Make sure to check out our social media to keep track of the latest content.

Instagram - @qatarliving

Twitter - @qatarliving

Facebook - Qatar Living

YouTube - qatarlivingofficial

Cover Image Credit and Source: MoPH