World Health Organization (WHO) has accredited Doha and Al Rayyan Municipalities, as “Healthy Cities” and Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Education City as “Healthy Education City”. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), in collaboration with Ministry of Municipality and QF, organized a ceremony marking the event on 13th February 2022.
The ceremony was attended by Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation; Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al-Kuwari, Minister of Public Health; His Excellency Mr. Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, Minister of Municipality; and Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean; in addition to several high-level officials from MOPH, MoM, QF, and WHO.
The Healthy City Program is an efficient tool to improve the health of populations and societies by preventing the main causes of health and environmental maladies through cooperation and partnership across sectors and the society.
Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al-Kuwari said “Qatar aims at getting all the eight municipalities accredited as healthy cities by the WHO to provide sustainable and healthier options for the population.”
“Healthy Education City” accreditation
The “Healthy Education City” accreditation under the Health Promoting Universities Program, and is part of the Healthy City Program. It recognizes QF’s holistic understanding of wellbeing and the organization’s dedication to helping community members achieve their full potential.
Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, said: “Improving people’s health and wellbeing within our cities and communities requires shared commitment and action from many stakeholders, including Qatar Foundation.”
“Collaborative work of this kind has been instrumental in the World Health Organization granting two municipalities in Qatar the status of a ‘Healthy City’, and we look forward to contributing to further efforts to make our cities healthier places in which to work, learn, and live.”
“The Healthy City approach is a holistic approach, which integrates multi-disciplinary action across sectors through community participation, partnership, empowerment, and equity. Accreditation as a Healthy City is not based on health infrastructure, but on a set of criteria that demonstrate a commitment to improve a city and willingness to establish partnerships across the political, economic, and social arenas,” said Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari.
“The State of Qatar has shown great commitment towards health improvement and strong collaboration across government, academic and civil partners, which ensures that the health and well-being of its population will continue to be a top priority. I would like to congratulate the municipalities of Al-Rayan and Al-Doha for achieving the WHO Healthy City accreditation and The Education City as Healthy Education City” and I look forward to witnessing more successes in Qatar in the future,” he added.
A WHO delegation visited Al-Doha and Al-Rayyan municipalities to evaluate their eligibility for “Healthy City” accreditation.
‘Healthy City’ is global initiative by the WHO
‘Healthy City’ is global initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) which aims at placing health high on the social and political agenda of cities by promoting health, equity and sustainable development through innovation and multi-sectoral change. A “Healthy City” accreditation is granted to cities around the world which meet the criteria set by the WHO.
The Healthy City program in Qatar serves one of the strategic projects under the “Health in All Policies” priority within the National Health Strategy (NHS) 2018-2022. It is an inter-sectoral collaborative approach to improving the health and equity for all populations by incorporating health considerations and implications into all decision-making processes and policies across government. The program focuses on four areas of work namely, establishment of strong governance structure, community engagement and empowerment, strengthening monitoring and evaluation and behavioral change interventions.
Source: Press Release
Cover image credit: Shutterstock
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