The project includes “5” municipalities to build a healthy environment for citizens, residents and visitors
A delegation from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean visited Qatar from October 24-27 to assess the Ministry of Public Health’s request to obtain the accreditation for Doha and Al Rayyan municipalities as the “Healthy City 2021.
The Ministry of Public Health and its partners across sectors of the country are working to obtain the accreditation for Doha and Al Rayyan municipalities as health cities by WHO, as part of a project that includes the adoption of five health cities, including the municipalities of Al Wakra, Al Khor and the North at later stages, to build a healthy environment for citizens, residents and visitors.
One of the objectives of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 is to have the accreditation for at least one city as the “Healthy City” by WHO by 2022 via implementing intersectoral collaboration under the “Health in All Policies” priority, as there is a strong commitment in Qatar on healthy cities.
Dr. Samar al-Fiqi, the Regional Officer for Community-Based Initiatives, Healthy Settings and Health of Older Population, along with members of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean delegation, visited the Al Dafna area of Doha Municipality, and the Education City of Al Rayyan Municipality, the two sites under evaluation The team also met a number of stakeholders from different sectors and they expressed great satisfaction with the high level of cooperation and interaction they had witnessed.
In the context of their visits to the sites, WHO’s team met a group of QF members, covering QF’s various activities, including education, community engagement and health promotion.
These efforts are reflected at the national level through the adoption of the newly designed health city logo for the State of Qatar, which is an octagonal logo, that has a well-known Arabic and Islamic pattern representing the eight municipalities in the State of Qatar. The lines of the new logo reflect the integration of municipalities and different sectors affecting all individuals and communities.
WHO Healthy Cities is a global movement working to put health high on the social, economic and political agenda of governments by promoting health, equity and sustainable development through innovation and multi-sectoral change. This comprehensive approach is based on integrating multidisciplinary actions across different sectors through community engagement, partnership, empowerment and equity.
Source: Ministry of Public Health