Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai, UAE minister of finance and chairman of Dubai Health Authority, Hamdan Medical Award supported the 1st Arab World Conference on Public Health, in cooperation with the Health Ministers' Council of the GCC and Emirates Medical Association. The 3-days conference, hosted by Dubai Health Authority (DHA), was held under the umbrella of World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Dubai, with the participation of 600 healthcare professionals.

 

Engineer Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Deputy Chairman of the board of trustees of Hamdan Medical Award, opened the conference under the general theme "Towards Excellence in Public Health: Opportunities and Challenges in the Arab World".

 

"Prevention is an integral part of the public health strategies and this is what we do in Dubai where public health is brought up to the international standards", Eng. Essa Al Maidoor said in his speech during the opening ceremony.

 

During the conference, 38 keynote speakers discussed the public health priorities in the Arab region including the creation of a regional forum for exchange knowledge, experience and success stories on the key public health issues in the Arab countries, shedding light on the importance of public health and the use of new public health approaches for promotion of community health, contributing to the promotion of public health at regional and national levels, creating a better understanding and solutions of the Arab region's major public health challenges within the global public health community, as well as announcing the Dubai Declaration on Public Health.

 

The participants of the 1st Arab Public Health Conference in Dubai have recommended the need for developing laws and regulations of public health and promoting education and training so as to graduate competent cadres, build capacities in the field of public health, translate scientific knowledge into practice and establish and strength national associations of public health in the Arab countries as basis for the establishment of the Arab Public Health Association in future.

 

Also, the conference called for creating governmental mechanisms for dialogue on public health issues and building constructive partnerships with concerned partners and affirmed on the importance of strengthening communication and fruitful cooperation with the staff of various specialties in the health field.