Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Bin Abdullah Al-Manea will lead the Kingdom's delegation to the 61st session of the General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO), due to be held on May 19-24 in Geneva. He will deliver a speech on behalf of the Council of the Arab Health Ministers. He will also attend the 65th session of the Health Ministers Council of the member states of The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Manea, who is also the Chairman of the Executive Bureau of the Council of the Arab Health Ministers, said his speech on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the WHO would shed light on the world's health achievements, in addition to ways of confronting future challenges. He added that his speech would also include the achievements of Arab countries implementing strategies of primary health care and family medicine, and the importance of cementing relations with the WHO and non-governmental regional and international organizations for improving health conditions. Dr. Manea also said his speech would underline the importance of cooperation for confronting global health crises, such as bird flu and global warming, in addition to the violations of the human and health rights of the Palestinian people, ethnic cleansing, genocide, as well as the collapse of the health sector in Palestine and the failure of Palestinian hospitals to provide vital medical services. Manea pointed out that the speech would also shed light on the health situation in Iraq as well as the health of the Iraqi refugees in Iraq's neighboring countries, Darfur, Somalia, Djibouti and Comoros, and the help the WHO can extend to them. Regarding the 34th session of the Executive Bureau of the Council of the Arab Health Ministers, he said the meeting would discuss the health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. On the other hand, he said the 65th session of the GCC Health Ministers, due to be held on the sidelines of the WHO's General Assembly, will discuss primary health care, school health programs and the prices of pharmaceutical products, alternative medicine, as well as the Gulf Strategy for Health Researches, and other related topics. Manea lauded the support extended by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz to the councils of the Arab Health Ministers and the GCC Health Ministers. “It is hoped that the meetings would yield positive results and meet the aspirations of the rulers,” he added.
