The 31st normal session of the Council of the Arab Ministers of Health has concluded its meetings in Algiers yesterday. Dr. Khalid Al-Marghalani, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said the meetings discussed a number of issues. The 2007 budget of the Arabian Health Development Fund have been approved, the allotted amount being million Dollars. A pan-Arabic project for improving the quality of health facilities has also been approved.
He said the meetings approved the unified speech of the council to be delivered by the Algerian Minister of Health on behalf of the council in front of the WHO General Assembly meeting in May 2007. "The speech focuses on the health situations in some Arabic countries suffering from wars and disasters", he said. "The atrocities of the Israeli occupation have their impacts on the health situation in Palestine. Also the health situations in the Sudanese area of Darfur, Somalia, Iraq, and Lebanon necessitate humanitarian support".
He said the meetings agenda included allocation of a prize for the best Arabic health project, provided that priority is given to the projects carried out jointly between two or more Arabic countries. The meetings also discussed the possibility of establishing an Arabic union for combating tuberculosis and chest diseases, in addition to a project for dispatching relief works to some Arabic countries like Palestine, Iraq, Sudan, Lebanon, and Somalia. "The ministers discussed a proposal for allcating an annual emergency fund of half a million Dollars in the budget of the Arab League Secretariat General from some financial sources, including public donations.