HE Qatar's Minister of Health Reveals Plans to Increase Hospitals

Doha, June 03 (QNA) - HE Minister of Public Health Abdullah bin Khalid Al Qahtani announced Tuesday a number of projects and plans to develop the health sector, including building new hospitals to fit the increasing needs of the citizens. HE the Minister held a press conference today to celebrate the three year anniversary of the National Health Strategy 2011-2016. His Excellency revealed that the Ministry will unveil this month its plans to build new hospitals across the country. HE the Minister of Public Health said that the new location of the hospitals will take into consideration the population distribution. His Excellency noted that the goal of the new National Health Strategy is to increase the number of beds available to 6600 by 2030. In accordance to that, a new Gynecology hospital in Al Dha'ayen will be established. Medical health centers will also be increased according to His Excellency, establishing 54 new ones. The emergency building of Hamad Medical Corporation(HMC) will be expanded in the next two to three years. Parking lots will be expanded to 16,000 spaces by 2022 before its doubled by 2030, HE the minister told reporters. HE Minister of Public Health Kahlid Al Qahtani said while addressing the Supreme Council of Health's celebration of the third anniversary of launching the strategy that the National Health Strategy has achieved 44% of its output . He said that despite what has been achieved, more hard work is still needed to achieve the goals. "We are moving on the right track towards achieving our goals, and we are armed with the right decisions at both the technical and administrative levels as well as at the level of dealing with patients." The minister noted that the attendance of HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Prime Minister, Interior Minister and SCH Chairman, is a positive message that reflects His Excellency's keenness on the health sector. With the population expansion in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup, HE Al Qahtani said, dealing with patients gains more significance because the ministry is responsible for taking care of their health. "It's obviously not feasible to complete World Cup projects if the involved manpower are not fully healthy, and here comes our role in educating people and helping them maintain their health." HE Al Qahtani underlined the right of any patient whether a citizen or a resident to access high quality health care as a legitimate right for anyone living in Qatar. On the medical services available to workers, HE the Minister of Public Health noted that workers had a problem of accessing health centers and hospitals in the past because they didn't have a health card. HE the minister further said that the state has a new system to merge the health card with the ID cards, as well as provide better access to health services. HE the Minister added that the state is looking to build a new hospital and medical center in the industrial area, dedicated solely to workers. The project began last July. There will be two other health centers in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed, set to operate in the first quarter of 2016. On whether the ministry will review some of the 39 projects included in the strategy, HE the Minister said that they regularly re-evaluate all projects in terms of their priority. On health care, HE the Minister said that the second stage of implementing the health care system gave the citizen the right to choose his insurance provider. This in turn helped up the level of service by the competing companies. (END)