The 34th meeting of Arab health ministers convened Wednesday at the Arab League's Cairo headquarters. Eight Arab countries participated in the event, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Djibouti, Syria and Lebanon. The meeting was chaired by Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifa, who discussed a number of the region's most serious health issues, not least of which was the spread of the H1N1 virus throughout the Arab world. The meeting kicked off with an opening statement read on behalf of Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. "We aim at improving healthcare in Arab countries by curbing the spread of epidemic diseases and improving primary health care, including family medicine and pharmaceutical production," the statement read. "The Arab world is witnessing many challenges, at the top of which are the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, financial and economic crises and poverty-- all of which serve to negatively affect health development." Taking the podium, Khalifa stated: "I'd like to put forward a near-term plan by which we can tackle several issues of concern to us and which will have a direct influence on our societies. These issues include medicine, training for junior doctors, health tourism and primary health care." Khalifa concluded by suggesting that a follow-up meeting of Arab health ministers be held in Beirut in six months' time. "The core purpose of this conference is the improvement of public health in Arab countries, as well as the unification of efforts to achieve better health care for Arab citizens," said Mohamed Mahmoud Hegazi, secretary of the Libyan public committee for health and environment. Hegazi went on to note that the main themes discussed in earlier closed-door meetings between ministers had been "the council's technical activities between the 33rd and 34th sessions, the fight against the spread of the H1N1 virus among Arab countries, the development of health services and the improvement of health performance." Regarding the dire public health situation in Palestine, Hegazi declared: "It doesn't differ from that of Darfur and Iraq; the situation there is related to political problems that call for providing doctors and health care." He went on to point out that, although Iraq did not participate in the health ministers' meeting, "we nevertheless support Iraq, given its difficult circumstances." Among the recommendations made by conference participants were the unification of quality standards within the wider Arab medical industry; the enhancement of health insurance and pharmaceutical production; and the establishment of an Arab coordination committee for mutual research and development.
