Qatar has participated in the 72nd session of the World Health Assembly, which concluded on Tuesday in Geneva.

The main theme of this year was "Comprehensive health coverage, no one left behind".

HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari led Qatar's delegation to the meetings held from May 20 to 28.

The closing sessions of the meetings witnessed the discussions of several important topics, including the impact of the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on public health, the promotion of the health of refugees and migrants, the availability of medicines and vaccines as well as the WHO Global Strategy on Health, the Environment and Climate Change, and the transformation it needs to make to improve the health and well-being of people through sustainable environments.

The Plan of Action on Climate Change and Health in Developing Countries and the follow-up to the Political Declaration of the Third High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of NCDs "in force" were also discussed.

On the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, Qatar organised a symposium on "Quality of Healthcare and Patient Safety in the Face of Emergencies and Hunger as a prerequisite for achieving comprehensive health coverage", chaired by HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, supported by 17 countries, the WHO Secretariat and the Regional Office Of the World Health Organisation for the Eastern Mediterranean and a number of non-governmental organisations.

Qatar also participated in the meetings of the 52nd Ordinary Session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Health and its Executive Office at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Geneva, the Health Ministers' Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement and a number of events held on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly.

The World Health Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Assembly meets once a year and is attended by delegations from all member states of the organisation, where the meetings of the assembly determine the policies of the World Health Organisation and to appoint the director-general besides monitoring the organisation's financial policies.

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