AGU hosts discussion on health policies, sustainable development

Manama, May 10 (BNA): The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) hosted a dialogue on the strengths and challenges of health policies in the Kingdom of Bahrain in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health. Coordinated and facilitated by the Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, this dialogue was supported by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at the World Health Organization. It aimed to identify problems and challenges of achieving SDGs in relation to health policy and systems strengthening. Similar dialogues are being conducted in different regions in the world, including the Middle East. Bahrain, alongside Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia, was identified to host and convene the dialogue. This work is complementary to the UN-organized SDG summit held in September 2015 that identified a set of 17 goals and 169 targets to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. A number of primary topics related to protecting and promoting access to health services through social protection systems were discussed at the dialogue with a special focus on disability, unemployment, and support to the elderly in relation to universal health coverage. The dialogue also addressed ways to strengthen partnerships and cooperation across sectors to promote health, especially between the public and private sectors. Moreover, the dialogue deliberations tackled options and possible strategic alternatives to promote values ??of empowerment, responsible participation, accountability and transparency in local healthcare circles. Professor Fadi El-Jardali, Director of the K2P Center at AUB, considered the meeting to be successful by all means: "the dialogue brought together stakeholders and policymakers from all health sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain as well as involved parties whose decisions and activities have an impact at the level of public health" commented El-Jardali. "Everyone demonstrated remarkable interaction and enthusiasm towards achieving the objectives of sustainable development in the health sector." Dr. El-Jardali indicated that a brief report on the outcomes of these dialogues will be submitted to all partners in each of the aforementioned countries. Professor Randah Hamadeh, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences at AGU, stated that AGU’s cooperation with AUB was long-established through previous successful cooperation between the two universities: "AGU is keen on conserving and leveraging these partnerships. This is coming from assuming our responsibilities toward the region and setting strategic goals to combat pressing issues in the Gulf community, among them improving health care quality," stressed Dr. Hamadeh. According to her, the dialogue triggered action to inform future plans for improving the healthcare system in Bahrain in order to achieve SDGs. Professor Hamadeh mentioned that on the sidelines of this meeting, a set of collaboration frameworks were discussed between AGU and the K2P Center at AUB.