THE Northern Governorate’s bid to be dubbed as a ‘Healthy Governorate’ received a boost after a letter of co-operation was sent by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to Northern Governor Ali Al Asfoor.
The letter was handed over in a ceremony at the governorate building in Al Qurayyah in the presence of Health Ministry assistant under-secretary for public health Dr Ijlal Al Alawi, WHO Bahrain representative Dr Tasneem Atatreh, Northern Municipal Council chairman Sayed Al Wadaei and other representatives from the public and private sector.
“This is a historic day for the governorate,” said Mr Al Asfoor.
“This all started with a small experiment that resulted in A’ali being successfully determined as a Healthy City, and now we look forward to give that designation to the entire governorate.”
The campaign is being held under the slogan, “Health for all, from all.” It will cover an area of approximately 420 square kilometres, which includes a population of more than 395,000 citizens and residents.
Mr Al Asfoor stressed the importance of hard work during the upcoming period in order to meet the standards set out by the Healthy City Programme to successfully be recognised as a ‘Healthy Governorate’.
He urged all sectors to take responsibility and step up in the upcoming period in order to meet said standards.
He also praised the efforts of committees for their work to achieve high accreditation in the programme by creating health and environmental programmes.
Dr Atatreh confirmed that the letter signals the beginning of great things for Mr Al Asfoor and the governorate.
She also stressed the importance of providing the best possible care for the Bahraini people by the Health Ministry and other government agencies.
A roadmap for the next phase of the campaign was also set out at the ceremony by Mr Al Wadaei and WHO, both of whom reiterated their desire to co-operate to achieve the governorate’s ambitions.
Four cities in Bahrain have so far been recognised as a ‘Healthy City’. Umm Al Hassam became the first in 2018.
Manama then followed in 2019, and became the first-ever capital in the Middle East to receive the designation.
Busaiteen and A’ali were then recognised as the other two healthy cities in 2022.
Should it receive the designation, the Northern Governorate could become the first-ever fully healthy governorate in Bahrain, the region and the Middle East.
In the past, Mr Al Asfoor had affirmed his belief that the governorate has the capability to meet the required standards.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))