His Excellency the Minister of Health, Mr. Ahmad bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb, said that the Ministry of Health (MOH), since the occurrence of the Coronavirus cases, has been keen to coordinate permanently with the World Health Organization (WHO) and exerted intensive efforts to deal with the virus, shedding light on the preventive and precautionary measures taken by the ministry in accordance with the scientific and practical approach.
Upon his inauguration today (Thursday) morning of a workshop on the latest scientific researches on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Mr. Al-Khateeb said, "It is my pleasure to be with you in this scientific meeting and I would like on this occasion to welcome this constellation who came here to review the latest developments and scientific researches about the Coronavirus, including the joint researches conducted during the last three years in a number of fields such as the epidemiology of the disease, methods of infection transmission, and potential ways of treatment, as well as discussing the lessons learned from the practical and field experiences at the Command and Control Center (CCC).
The Minister has extended his thanks and appreciation to the wise leadership for their continuous and unlimited support for the MOH's efforts to deal with this virus. "Such support," he said, "has contributed, thanks to Allah, to maintaining the health and safety of citizens."
He said, "Your participation in such researches and interpretation of their findings plays an important role in coming out with results and recommendations that can curb the threats of this virus on public health and reach answers that make it possible to formulate templates and achieve the desired goals. This scientific gathering came to shed light on the latest developments of these studies and researches."
Mr. Al-Khateeb welcomed the participation of all colleagues from inside the Kingdom, lauding contributions made by experts of the WHO and all efforts exerted by all attendees in order to expand the scope of knowledge and enhance public health as well as reducing risk factors associated with infection and its impact at the local and international level.
Moreover, Mr. Al-Khateeb urged all concerned sectors and civil society institutions to coordinate their efforts and work together with the MOH to face the virus, through promoting health awareness, activating awareness programs and enforcing the concept of effective social partnership, hoping such measures would accelerate the wheel of progress in fighting the Coronavirus, restrict its prevalence, eliminate it and translate such experiences into tangible results.
At the conclusion of his speech, Mr. Al-Khateeb thanked all those who contributed to preparation and organization of this meeting, wishing the participants every success.
Within the same vein, and following the opening ceremony, the Minister of Health held a meeting with a high level delegation of the World Health Organization, headed by the WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security Dr. Keiji Fukuda, who is currently visiting the Kingdom at the invitation of His Excellency the Minister of Health0 to evaluate the efforts exerted by the MOH to address the Coronavirus, get acquainted with challenges and to provide the required technical support for the Kingdom, if needed.
During the meeting, they discussed the current situation of the Coronavirus, with the attendance of His Excellency the Vice Minister of Health for Health Affairs, Dr. Mansour Al-Howasi, and a number of senior officials of the MOH's Command and Control Center (CCC). The WHO delegation, grouping 11 experts and many other specialists, in addition to specialists of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), visits here to communicate with the Saudi officials in the field of laboratories and epidemiology.
The delegation includes also the Director of Communicable Diseases and the Regional Advisor of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases at Eastern Mediterranean Region, as well as the Director of Regional Office of the World Organization for Animal Health, and specialists of the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).