The Advisory Council on Monday praised Qatar's medical services, and highlighted the need to improve them further for optimal performance.
At its regular weekly meeting, members of the Council pointed out there were some shortcomings which needed to be addressed quickly, including the need to pay more attention to the emergency departments in hospitals, the long waiting periods for appointments, and the shortage of beds and rooms.
The Council members called for an evaluation of the previous health insurance and identify the negative aspects so as to improve the new health insurance project.
At the beginning of the meeting held under the chairmanship of HE the Speaker Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, the Council discussed the conditions of medical services in the country.
The members expressed appreciation for the great development witnessed by the health services in Qatar thanks to the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the support provided by the State to this important sector. 
They pointed out that the development and expansion of health services should keep pace with the population growth, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
After extensive discussions, the Council decided to refer the matter to the Services and the Public Utilities Committee for further study, taking into account the observations, complaints, and proposals of citizens on medical services.
At the end of the meeting al-Mahmoud briefed the members on the participation of the Council's delegation under his chairmanship in the conference of the Association of Senates, Shura and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World held in Rabat, Morocco, on January 17 and 18, which focused on the experiences of national reconciliation which led to political stability and peace. 
He spoke about his meetings on the sidelines of the conference, which included talks with the speaker of the House of Representatives and speaker of the House of Councillors of Morocco, the speaker of the parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (CEDEAO), and the president of the Latin American Parliament, and its next president. 
Al-Mahmoud explained that the discussions during these meetings focused on strengthening relations between the Council and parliaments of those countries and regional parliamentary gatherings.
He noted that the conference, which was attended by the heads of national and regional parliaments in the Arab world, Africa and Latin America, and prominent national and international human rights figures in the field of reconciliation and transitional justice, issued a closing statement in which it praised Qatar for hosting the next session of the General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Doha from April 6 to 10.
Meanwhile, a number of students from Qatar University, Hamad Bin Khalifa University and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies participated in the meeting of the Advisory Council.
This was in line with the Council's keenness to familiarise the students with its functions, responsibilities, how to conduct the sessions, its legislative role, the functions of specialised committees, working mechanisms and channels of communication with citizens, in order to receive their observations and suggestions to discuss them and work to achieve them in co-operation with the government.
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