Minister of Health discusses with the WHO delegation support for priorities of the health strategy

Damascus (ST) – The Minister of Health Hassan Al-Ghabbash discussed with a delegation from the Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) ways to support the national priorities of the health strategy.

Participants in a joint meeting between the two sides at the Ministry of Health building in Damascus affirmed the necessity of consolidating the relationship between the Ministry and the organization by arranging priorities and developing a clear strategy to define long-term goals, methods of implementing them, and the mechanism of action to achieve these goals.

Al-Ghabbash stressed the importance of the organization’s great role in the health sector through coordination and rapid response to needs, and the importance of the visit of Dr. Hanan Balkhi, Regional Director of the WHO for the Eastern Mediterranean, to Syria, where she learned about the health situation and the challenges facing it.

In turn, the representative of the WHO, Dr. Iman Al-Shanqeeti, stressed the necessity of working continuously, learning about the health reality, conducting technical studies regarding aid, and identifying the needs of health facilities, especially medical devices.

The Deputy Minister of Health, a number of central directors in the Ministry, the Director of Universal Health Coverage in the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Regional Advisor for Early Recovery in the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Health Systems Officer in the WHO Office, Dr. Hiam Bashour, participated in the meeting.

Nalja Khoury