The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) has accredited twenty hours for participants in the Global Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Diseases in the Arab World and Middle East, organized by the Ministry of Health (MOH) under the generous auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, May Allah protect him. The conference will be held at Prince Sultan Grand Hall (Al-Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh), from 10 to 12 September, 2012.
The committees assigned to organize the conference, for their part, have continued to take over their tasks and responsibilities in the preparation for the conference. “His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, has given his orders to prepare for the conference as best as possible, in order for the conference to come out honorably, in a way that reflects the Kingdom's broad expertise in the organization of conferences,” said Dr. Khaled al-Merghalani, the MOH Spokesman. It is worth mentioning, Dr. Al-Rabeeah had taken a decision to form committees for the preparation and follow-up of the conference, headed by the chairman of the higher organizational committee of the conference, the Deputy Minister for Public Health, Dr. Zeyad Memish.
According to Dr. al-Merghalani, the conference will be attended by 62 specialized experts, coming along from local, regional and international bodies and authorities, in addition to fourteen Arab ministers of health. The conference will be held in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), and will be attended, also, by the delegations of the ministries of health, the ministries of foreign affairs, the ministries of planning of the member-states the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and the Arab League, as well as representatives of the UN programs, agencies and funds. In addition, it is expected that many international financial institutions, development banks and international organizations, aside from specialized experts from all over the world, will participate in the conference.
It followed that Dr. al-Merghalani enumerated a number of the authorities, agencies and scientific societies taking part in the conference; most notably the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Food and Drug Authority, the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, the Ministry of Islamic Affair, Endowments, Da'wah and Guidance, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the MOI's Health Services General Department, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the MOD's Health Services General Department, the National Guard's Health Affairs, Saudi Aramco, the Council of Health Services (CHS), the GCC General Secretariat, King Fahad Medical City, the Ministry of Economics and Planning, Saudi Oncology Society, Saudi Heart Association, Saudi Thoracic Society, Saudi Diabetes & Endocrine Association, Saudi Osteoporosis Society, Saudi Ophthalmological Society, and Saudi Hypertension Society (SHAMS).
It is noteworthy, a welcoming committee of high-profile delegations has been formed under the chairmanship of the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Primary Healthcare. Whereas the drafting committee of the conference's incidents and resolutions has been headed by the Director-General of Hereditary and Chronic Diseases Control. Dr. Taha Melibari, the Advisor to the Deputy Minister for Health Affairs, has been named head of the preparation for social events committee, and the Director-General of Public Services was named head of the public supportive services committee. The Supervisor of the National AIDS Program was designated as the head of the publications and souvenirs committee.