Qatar's Minister of Public Health Inaugurates Al Ghuwairiya Health Center

Doha, July 06 (QNA)- Upgrade and opening of new health centers outside Doha is a priority as residents in remote areas lack access to quality healthcare services, HE Minister of Public Health Abdullah bin Khalid al Qahtani said. Speaking to reports after inaugurating a new building of Al Ghuwairiya Health Center in Al Ghuwairiya, the Minister said three new health centers will be opened this year. "We plan to start first with areas outside Doha including Al Ghuwairiya and Al Karaana. This center used to have a small clinic led by one physician but now it will have more clinics," he said. The inauguration was attended by HE Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Eng Nasser Al Mawlawi Chairman of "ashghal" and Dr. Mariam Abdul Malik, director of Primary Health Care Foundation. The Al Karaana center will be of the same size as the Al Ghuwairiya Health Center and will open on July 14. By the end of this year, another health center will come up in Umm Salal, he said. "We will have 15 other health centers coming up," the Minister said. These health centers will support the Qatar National Vision 2030 and National Health Strategy 2011-2016 in which primary healthcare is the most important. "In the strategy you will discover that priority number one is primary healthcare. One of our pledges is to ensure good access and coverage. We plan to have three types of centers depending on the population," He said. The health centers are classified into 3 categories " type A (smallest), B (intermediate) and C (Wellness). The Al Ghuwairiya Health Center is of type A.