On the sidelines of the 60th session’s meetings of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Eastern Mediterranean, currently being held in Muscat, Oman, His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Rabeeah, has met yesterday with the US Assistant Deputy Minister of Health and Human Services for International Relations, Dr. Nils Dloren.
Within the same vein, Dr. Dloren extended his appreciation to the Custodian Two Mosques, and lauded the Kingdom’s support for Pakistan to combat polio.
“We appreciate the Kingdom’s concern about the importance of the vaccination program to prevent diseases transmission, since some people refuse or oppose such vaccinations because of their lack of awareness,” said Dr. Dloren.
He went on adding: “As scientists, we know well that medicine was first initiated by Muslim doctors, and then moved later on to the West, proceeding from the principle of “Prevention” in Islam; the principle which we pursue and carry out in the scientific field.”
During the meeting, they discussed ways to enhance the bilateral cooperation between both countries, especially with regard to the actions taken for combating Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), as well as supporting the Field Epidemiology Program in the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) with a permanent consultant from the Research and Monitoring Center; to supervise training of the Saudi cadres in the Field Epidemiology domain. Also, they discussed ways of cooperation in the field of health system development, participation in the medical research, and the burden of morbidity and field studies.
On the other hand, Dr. Al-Rabeeah has met with the Director of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. ‘Alaa ‘Alwan. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of health activities between the Kingdom and the organization, especially with regard to supporting the health development of the region, that is to be added to other topics related to the public health outside the region.
Furthermore, Dr. ‘Alwan highlighted that the Eastern Mediterranean Region depends on Saudi Arabia in the vocational and technical support and expertise in the health domain, meanwhile making benefit of the Kingdom as a reference for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region. Moreover, Dr. ‘Alwan appreciate the great support provided by the Kingdom for the organization, to combat some of the health problems, such as Coronavirus.
Finally, Dr. ‘Alwan lauded the financial support provided by the Kingdom for the organization to carry out some scientific and research activities, especially in combating the novel diseases. He also lauded the Kingdom’s widespread experience in the health domain, which has been regarded as a reference for the region and whole world.