Dubai: Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday attended a ceremony to mark the recognition of Al Wasl hospital as a baby-friendly medical facility by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

The celebration was held at Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, in the presence of Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), and Lara Hussain, charge d'affaires of the Unicef Fund for Arab countries, and other DHA officials and directors.

Al Murooshid expressed his pride in the achievement. He said that Al Wasl hospital earned the title after it implemented 10 criteria related to the 10 steps for successful breast-feeding in its baby-friendly initiative, which aims to increase awareness of mothers about the benefits of breast-feeding.

In his opening speech, Dr Abdullah Al Khayyat, Executive Director of Al Wasl hospital, stressed the importance of this recognition, which marked the hospital's success in encouraging breast-feeding.

He said that it reflected the dedication of the hospital in implementing the 10 steps of the baby-friendly initiative approved by the World Health Organisation and Unicef.

IAEA training:  Dubai hospital selected

Dubai Hospital has been chosen as the permanent premises for various training programmes and workshops, to be conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The agency said occasionally ran programmes in the Middle East. The selection of the Dubai Hospital took into consideration the medical centre's potential and the location Dubai enjoyed in serving countries in the region. CEO of Dubai Hospital Dr Abdul Razzaq Al Madani said the recommendation came after a programme on medical physics in nuclear medicine organised by the IAEA in cooperation with the Departments of Medical Physics and Nuclear Medicine at the Dubai Hospital and the Department of Medical Education of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). The programme was attended by 21 specialists from the region.