Dr Khan (left) with AKH’s senior management staff show off the award

Al Khor Hospital’s (AKH) Breast Management and Resource Centre at the hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology department has been awarded the prestigious regional Breast-feeding Management Award by the Dubai Health Authority at the Third National Seminar on Human Lactation.
The AKH Centre’s clinical associate and certified lactation consultant Dr Mohamed Ilyas Khan received the merit award on behalf of the hospital at the event organised by the Breastfeeding Promotion Committee at Dubai Hospital.
The award is the second major one won by the AKH Centre this year with the first being an award from the International Lactation Consultant Association (IBLC-ILCA) in the US.
The latest honour recognises AKH’s Breast-feeding Centre as Qatar’s first integrated multidisciplinary breast-feeding management programme.
The breast-feeding centre is focused on promoting, protecting and supporting breast-feeding in addition to providing clinical management of breast-feeding to solve related problems.
The centre, which started offering its services in 2009 and remains the only lactation clinic in Qatar, has already served more than 1,400 mothers, both Qataris and expatriates.
It also runs an ante-natal and post-natal management clinic for mothers and monitors them through a computerised appointment system to ensure that the mother breast-feeds her child for at least six months.
Dr Khan, who was one of the keynote speakers at the event, gave a detailed presentation about the AKH Centre in addition to highlighting key aspects involved in breast-feeding management.
Commenting on winning the award, he said: “I dedicate this award to the corporate leadership of Hamad Medical Corporation’s managing director Dr Hanan al-Kuwari, who has always provided support and encouragement to our efforts.”
He also took the opportunity to thank many of the key people involved in the success of the AKH Breast-Feeding Centre including doctors, nurses and administration staff throughout HMC.
The future for AKH’s Breast Management Programme looks promising as it works towards meeting the expectations of Qatar’s National Health Strategy, which aims to increase exclusive breast-feeding in Qatar by more than 25% by 2016.
AKH’s breast management and resource centre aims to become a World Health Organisation collaborating centre in the future.