HRH Premier outlines Bahrain’s sustainable development strides

New York, Sept.27 (BNA): His Royal Highness the Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa affirmed on Thursday that the Government of Bahrain is working in accordance with a comprehensive system to upgrade the health and medical sector through various initiatives and programs aimed at developing and intensifying preventive health programs and promoting healthy lifestyles among all segments of society. He said that Bahrain has succeeded in achieving all the health-related Millennium Development Goals after agreeing to the new global plan entitled "Transforming Our World: the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan" which consists of 17 targets and 169 targets, of which HRH said Bahrain has accomplished outstanding results. He added that the Kingdom of Bahrain is working constantly on developing the health care sector by taking several steps, including the approval of the National Health Plan for the years 2016-2025, which has emphasized that Bahrain is moving towards the international commitment of the World Health Organization to achieving 3-8 of the sustainable development goals and universal coverage. HRH pointed out that the National Health Plan aims to achieve quality in the provision of health services, ensure their financing and sustainability, provide the necessary human resources and infrastructure. “This is all made to ensure health services’ governance in order to achieve the government's work program through the development of the health system based on continuing provision of integrated and sustainable high quality health services by optimizing of available resources, HRH added. His Royal Highness affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain is keen to combine all efforts and integrate them into a unified plan. HRH went on to affirm the plan promotes all preventive and curative aspects of health care levels and enables patients and their families to control diseases, strengthen research and community participation by applying programs designed to prevent their risks, and educate the community to reduce infection rate. "We in the Kingdom of Bahrain support all global efforts in the fight against various diseases. We reaffirm our commitment to the implementation of the World Declaration on the Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, he said. He called on the international community to work together to eliminate various diseases and epidemics that affect many communities. HRH also called for developing strategies and operational plans that work towards the implementation of the sustainable development goals in this regard. HRH’s remarks were made as he addressed the third high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) on Thursday in New York. Mr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Mutawa, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs addressed the event on HRH’s behalf.