WHO selects Sharjah as region's Healthy City

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WHO selects Sharjah as regions Healthy City
Dr Shaikh Sultan receiving the Healthy City certificate from Dr Ala Alwan at a ceremony in Sharjah on Wednesday.

Sharjah - The world body lauded the emirate for taking measures to improve the healthcare system and social welfare infrastructure.

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

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Published: Thu 1 Oct 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Fri 2 Oct 2015, 12:23 PM

The Emirate of Sharjah was selected the first Healthy City in the region by the World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this year, after it met majority of criteria set by the world organisation's Healthy Cities Programme. The declaration was officially announced on Wednesday during the ceremony attended by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and senior officials of WHO.
The WHO report presented on the occasion confirmed that Sharjah, which joined the programme in 2012 as part of the vision and efforts of Dr Shaikh Sultan to put health at the top of the development agenda of the emirate, had more than complied with the basic WHO criteria for being selected as the first Healthy City in the region under the new criteria of the world body.
The world body lauded the emirate for taking measures to improve the healthcare system and social welfare infrastructure, while embracing responsible environment policies and practices, such as waste management and sustainable development, in line with the WHO Healthy Cities Programme. It called for replicating Sharjah's successful model globally.
Dr Shaikh Sultan presented a shield to Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean while Dr Alwan presented the WHO's Healthy City Adoption Citation to Dr Shaikh Sultan.
"This recognition by the WHO came as a cumulative result of a number of initiatives and projects aligned with the vision of Sharjah, which aspires to become a role model for healthy cities around the globe," said Shaikh Essam bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Adviser at the Ruler of Sharjah's Office and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Sharjah's WHO Healthy Cities Programme.
According to WHO officials, Sharjah will also be a regional training centre for other cities seeking an endorsement to join the programme.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com


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