Health check issue 8

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ISSUE 8

Wednesday, Septemeber 24, 2014

EDUCATIONAL HEALTH SUPPLEMENT SPONSORED BY

Nation•Business•Sports•Chill Out

SCH HOLDS A JOINT MEETING ON EBOLA To International Health Regulations Committee and advisory working team of communicable diseases control

Sheikh Dr. Mohamad bin Hamad Al-Thani, SCH Director of Public Health and Chairman of IHR committee

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he Supreme Council of Health held a joint meeting last month (August 2014) with the International Health Regulations Committee and advisory working team of communicable diseases control within the framework of the National Preparedness Plan against EBOLA. The meeting discussed the Ebola virus and the execution of prevention measures which has been approved after Ebola outbreak declared an international public health emergency by World Health Organisation (WHO) in regard to the recommendation of IHR committee’s experts after the increase of Ebola cases in West African countries. At the beginning of the meeting, Sheikh Dr. Mohamad bin Hamad Al-Thani, SCH Director of Public Health and Chairman of IHR committee assured that Qatar has not reported any case. He also pointed out that it is essential to reinforce prevention measures and the readiness of health authorities to deal with any case if any and brief experts of the Communicable Diseases Control Department and IHR committee members on any suspected case. He added that preparedness plans have been set up locally which will help the coordination and the exchange of information and help the concerned authority in the implementation of prevention measures to be enforced. (Continued on page 2...)

WELLNESS CENTRES IN QATAR ARE PLANNED TO BE OPENED IN APRIL 2015 AN INVITED GROUP FROM PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CORPORATION (PHCC) AND OTHER ENTITIES SUCH AS SUPREME COUNCIL OF HEALTH (SCH) AND HAMAD MEDICAL CORPORATION (HMC) ATTENDED A WORKSHOP TO DEVELOP A COMMON UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT WELLNESS MEANS TO THE PEOPLE OF QATAR AND START TO LOOK AT HOW THIS COULD BE DELIVERED. BESIDES, ANOTHER WORKSHOP WAS HELD FOR PHCC DOCTORS AND STAFF WHERE THE NEW INITIATIVE WAS INTRODUCED.

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he first health centre which has wellness facilities is due to open in April 2015, although this timeline is subject to the buildings construction timescales. The idea comes from the Qatar’s National Health Strategy (NHS) 3rd goal that centres on embedding prevention and focusing on the highrisk priorities. It was highlighted that Qatar’s healthcare system needs to move beyond treating the acutely ill and address healthcare at the prevention stage. This requires a fundamental shift in mind-set, accompanied by a reallocation of resources. The aim is to embed prevention and early intervention into every aspect of the health system and to empower the people of Qatar to be active participants in self-care, prevention and maintaining wellness. These wellness centres are designed to meet the needs of the entire community, and will they help to achieve new levels of well-being. These centres are about promoting healthy lifestyles health and preventing disease. Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive at Social Enterprise UK, led the workshop giving a presentation on his own experience “We pursue a social goal that benefits the commu-

nity and prevents it from diseases through lifestyle changes and life quality improvements”. The aim was to get the group thinking about wellness services and how these could work in Qatar as well as what would be important here. In addition, the attendees were divided in groups with the aim of working on a common wellness description and establishing the main ideas and building wellness

centres in Qatar, through the public health entities that are working for the community and offering the best quality in services. The National Primary Health Care Strategy (NPHCS) identified the need to undertake a major expansion in the number of PHCC health centres in order to keep pace with the growing population, and to improve existing facilities so that they can support the high quality

services defined in the strategy. To this end, PHCC is currently planning to construct 17 new health centres. There will be 3 types: • General Health Centres providing general clinics, ante-natal, well baby, pharmacy, laboratory and radiology services – Type A • Community Health Centres providing all of the above plus physiotherapy, smoking cessation, nutrition counselling, healthy cooking classes and health promotion facilities – Type B • Health and Wellness Centres providing all of the above plus podiatry, dermatology, gymnasium, pool and sauna – Type C Type Cs are predicated on shifting primary health services from being curative to being more focused on helping people live healthy lives. This is to ensure that the wellness model works to prevent people from getting unwell and proactively encouraging healthy living in the community. The provision of services within the new wellness centres, are yet to be fully defined, and preparation of the service specification is currently underway. This is being done through wider stakeholder engagement.


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Health check issue 8 by Ravi Nair - Issuu