DOHA: High quality health services under the second National Health Strategy (NHS) 2018-2022 will offer a unique model for healthcare in Qatar

focusing more on disease prevention and involvement of patients in the protection and treatment process, said officials during a press conference held on the sideline of the launch of the second NHS.

The officials said that the first National Health Strategy (2011-2016) led to significant changes in the level of primary care and paved the way for provision of a better level of care for families in locations close to their homes.

Assistant Secretary General for Medical Affairs at the Ministry of Public Health Saleh bin Ali Al Marri said at a press conference that the new strategy will build on the successes and achievements of the first strategy. He noted that the NHS 2018-2022 is one of eight government-sector strategies under the umbrella of the National Development Strategy.

Al Marri said the Ministry of Public Health had adopted three general objectives: achieving better health, better care and better value by focusing on seven priority population groups, including children, mothers, the elderly and people with special needs. He added that the Ministry of Public Health has achieved 80 percent of the objectives of the first strategy, which was focused on establishing the infrastructure of the health system in Qatar.

“Work is now underway to focus on involving individuals and society in the development of the health system,” he said.

Meanwhile, Director of Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, said by the end of 2018 three workers hospitals will be opened, and in 2019 another two hospitals will be ready to function.

Sidra hospital will also be expanded to fully operate along some specialised centres like injuries centre at Hamad Hospital will enable the ministry to meet health demands in different sectors. Almost 99 percent of treatments have been available in Qatar and very rare cases only are seeking treatment abroad as well for families need to make assure, Dr. Mohammed told The Peninsula on the sideline of the event. About the new strategy, he added that the strategy focuses on ways to protect the population from disease as well as improving healthcare systems and services infrastructure.

The Managing Director of PHCC, Mariam Alabdulmalik, said that the corporation plays a pivotal role in implementing the National Health Strategy as the first line in the health system. It provides specialised services in family medicine as well as early detection services for many diseases. The new strategy focuses on prevention before treatment, under the provision of specialised and qualified cadres, besides raising awareness of the society and involvement of patients in health system where everyone in the health sectors will play his role in the awareness process, she stressed. She added that Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani launched the Patient Portal which enables patients to keep in touch with their doctors which is value added to the smart clinic system aiming to early detection of diseases.

The next phase of the early detection of cancer which started with nationals will target the resident, Dr Mariam outlined.

For her part, Dr. Juliet Ibrahim, Director of e-Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health, confirmed that the new strategy represents a major shift in the way of working in the sector through its focus on the human and needs focusing on prevention methods before reaching the treatment.

By:Mohammed Osman