The UAE is a role model and Abu Dhabi Financial Week is a platform for communicating with donors

The Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Al-Balkhi, said that the health system in the UAE is very advanced, not only at the regional level, but also at the global level.

She indicated in a statement to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Financial Week activities held in Abu Dhabi, that the UAE has proven its worth during the Covid-19 pandemic, as evidence of the efficiency of epidemiological investigation, and the strength of communication between health systems, whether governmental or private, which prevents fragmentation in the provision of health care.

She stressed that the UAE is capable of providing highly efficient health care, which makes it a role model.

She said: Our presence in Abu Dhabi Financial Week is very important to meet with donors and collaborators on health matters.

She pointed out that the morning discussion during the week was very lively about health care for mothers and children, stressing that new reports indicate for the first time an increase in deaths of children under the age of five.

She added that six countries in the region face very significant challenges in accessing health care, with birth death rates reaching 500 or 600 per 100,000 births, while other countries in the same region do not have death rates exceeding 12 per 100,000 births.

She stressed the presence of a major role with donors, member states, and partners to find radical solutions to these health issues, noting that donors include governments, the private sector, and other cooperating organizations.

Balkhi explained that the organization has a major role in supporting the 194 member states in finding solutions and developing policies and leadership to deal with the health system in general, whether they are ministries of health or other ministries concerned with human health.

She added that the ultimate goal is for everyone to have access to health and healthcare, anywhere.

She said that we must be innovative in finding solutions to health matters, because health often does not take priority, unless there is a major disaster, as we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Balkhi touched on health financing, saying that annual financial support for the health sector should be between 2.5% and 5% of the budget, while we find that in many less fortunate countries, funding is sometimes less than 1.2%.

She pointed out that there is waste in some countries, such as the presence of medicines without rationing or determining how to obtain health care, stressing that there are great opportunities to ration health care and achieve more effective health spending.

She added: Last week, in cooperation with the World Bank, we produced guidelines to provide innovative solutions, so that countries can use financial tools to improve health care, such as imposing taxes on sugary drinks and cigarettes, and directing their revenues to health.