The Federal National Council adopts several recommendations regarding government policy in achieving national security for the pharmaceutical industry

The Federal National Council, during its third session of its third regular session of the eighteenth legislative term, which was held under the chairmanship of Council Speaker Saqr Ghobash, today, in Zayed Hall at the Council’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, approved a number of recommendations during the discussion of the topic “Government policy in achieving national security for the pharmaceutical industries and medical supplies.”

During the session, the Council stressed the importance of enhancing local production of pharmaceutical industries and medical supplies, enhancing cooperation between academic institutions and health facilities, establishing specialized units for clinical research, laboratories and advanced research centers to support research and development operations in this sector, developing an awareness strategy to raise community awareness of the importance of national industries and their quality, establishing specialized national institutes and developing academic and applied programs in pharmaceutical industry professions.

The session was attended by the Minister of Health and Community Protection, Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh, and the Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Drug Corporation, Saeed Mubarak Al Hajri.

The recommendations, which the Council decided to return to the Technology, Energy, Mineral Resources and Public Utilities Affairs Committee, to be reformulated according to the Council’s discussions, called for the establishment of a unified national data platform, the strengthening of cooperation between government and local agencies, academic institutions, hospitals and pharmaceutical factories, the reduction of drug prices, especially innovative drugs, and coordination with international pharmaceutical companies that manufacture innovative drugs that have chosen the UAE as their regional headquarters.

Saqr Ghobash said in his speech: At the beginning of our first session of 2026, I am honored to extend, in my name and on behalf of the members of the Federal National Council, the highest verses of congratulations and blessings to the shrine of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, “may God protect him,” and to the shrine of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy The President, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the Presidential Office, and their brothers, Their Highnesses Members of the Supreme Council and Rulers of the Emirates, on the occasion of the new Gregorian year 2026, asking God Almighty to make it an extension of the UAE’s path of giving, and to strengthen the position of the state that today stands as a model of a confident state, present with its moral, political and humanitarian weight on the international arena.

Ghobash stressed that what the UAE has achieved since its founding in 1971 was not the result of an abundance of resources, but rather the result of clarity of vision, wisdom of leadership, and the ability to read global transformations and interact with them with consistency and balance, which made the UAE able to keep pace with time to be a platform for action and leadership, and to keep pace with international changes to be a source of achievement and excellence without losing its national, Gulf and Arab identity, or its principled and humanitarian priorities.

Saqr Ghobash said: This year carries a special significance, represented by the twentieth anniversary of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, may God protect him, assuming the presidency of the Council of Ministers. This is a stage that constituted and continues to be a milestone in the development of an unconventional government model, transferring executive work from the logic of management to the logic of leadership, from the concept of performance to the culture of achievement, and from the limits of the possible to the horizons of ambition that does not know the impossible.

He added: As we congratulate His Highness on this precious national occasion, we affirm that what was achieved over two decades was not only the achievement of a government, but rather an integrated national building that was reflected in the citizen’s confidence in his leadership, the effectiveness of national institutions, and the UAE’s regional and international standing.

He concluded his speech by saying: We ask God to grant our wise leadership the blessing of success and prosperity, and that the new year be a year that consolidates the achievements that have been achieved and adds to them, and to protect our emirates and our people from all harm, and to perpetuate upon us the blessing of security, safety and prosperity, and God is the Grantor and Helper.

During the session, several questions were asked from members about the mechanism of rapid medical intervention for critical cases, the response obstacles associated with the delay in insurance company approvals, about health insurance for citizens, about establishing rehabilitation centers for senior citizens in the Northern Emirates, about providing medical transportation services for senior citizens to visit health facilities, and about periodic examination for early detection of cancer diseases.