NHS: counselling, premarital tests are yielding results

A panel comprising (from left) SCH health insurance manager Hussein Reka, PHCC strategy and organisational development assistant managing director Bill Gillespie, HMC scientific, faculty and academic affairs chief Prof Edward Hillhouse and HMC’s general adult psychiatry senior consultant and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar assistant Professor Dr Suhaila Ghuloum, during an interactive session yesterday.

More than 11% of the Qatar National Health Strategy (NHS) 2011-16 goals have already been achieved, with significant progress made in all remaining areas, it was announced at a ceremony marking two years since the launch of the strategy.The ceremony titled, “Two Years On, Building the Future Together” was attended by the Minister of Health and Supreme Council of Health Secretary General HE Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani and other top officials from the SCH, HMC, and Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC).There are currently 39 NHS projects, 38 of which are under active implementation. Since publication in 2011, two NHS projects (project 3.4 Consanguinity Risk Reduction and project 5.2 Healthcare Professional Regulation) have already completed 100% of target outputs. A reduction in risks of marriage between relatives has been achieved by implementing mandatory counselling and premarital testing, and secondly systemising the healthcare labour force through Foundation of Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP) in March.Project 3.4 has ensured the implementation of compulsory premarital counselling.Project 5.2 delivered the last of its outputs through the establishment of QCHP.However, according to the NHS Executive Summary 2013, more work is required to ensure the successful operation and development of QCHP and actions have been set at as a second phase to the project 5.2, and the project will be renamed ‘Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners’.“As the NHS structures policies and strategies over the next three years, improvements to healthcare services will become more visible to the public, HE al-Qahtani said.According to the official, four projects may finish next year while five, seven and 22 projects are expected to close in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. NHS was developed under the leadership of the Minister of Health HE al-Qahtani and SCH executive committee vice-chair Dr Mohamed Ghanem al-Ali al-Maadheed.NHS forms part of the wider National Development Strategy 2011-2016, created to help deliver the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030). It is the first five-year plan for the development of the health sector, that will ensure that by 2030, Qatar enjoys one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Under NHS, Qataris and residents will enjoy improved health services, have greater choice and will be more aware of their health. A key aspect of NHS is fostering ‘a culture of wellness’ in Qatar whereby people understand the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle to enhance their own social, physical and mental well-being.