Stock Sharjah Skyline, Al Khan Lagoon
A view of Sharjah skyline. Image Credit: Gulf News Archives

Sharjah: Dr. Abdulaziz Al Muhairi, Director-General of the Sharjah Health Authority and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Expansion of Healthy Cities Programme in the Emirate of Sharjah, confirmed that the emirate's file receives great support from His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in addition to the direct attention of the Sharjah Executive Council, which established the Committee of the Expansion of Healthy Cities Programme.

Such efforts are in line with the vision and directives of the Ruler of Sharjah to preserve the gains achieved after Sharjah received the title in 2015, as the first healthy city in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

This was stated during the visit of the World Health Organisation (WHO) delegation, on Sunday, to assess the Sharjah file within the Healthy Cities Programme, through which the various files and axes will be briefed to ensure the achievement of the set goals. These goals urge the continuation of work on spreading the culture of healthy cities and achieving the highest levels of life quality for the people of the emirate, in addition to participating and representing the emirate in various international health conferences and seminars.

Dr. Al Muhairi indicated that the Executive Committee of the programme had launched the document on Sharjah as an application tool to confirm the institutions' adoption of the nine standards for healthy cities, which all institutions and authorities in the emirate accepted and cooperated with.

The WHO delegation praised the file of Sharjah in terms of the continuous development of the facilities and procedures applied, pointing out that Sharjah has become a role model and a reference for other cities that are subject to evaluation, being the first city among the MENA countries to complete the conditions and criteria of the programme.

The visiting delegation made several field visits to government facilities and entities in the emirate to observe the mechanism of work of the health system and its compliance with the requirements and standards of the programme.