HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari attended the Association of Academic Health Centres (AAHC) annual meeting in Miami Florida as a Distinguished Lecturer.

The conference, which focused on how human migration is influencing healthcare both globally and locally, brought together academic health leaders from across the world to share best practice and spread innovation.

The minister delivered her lecture on ‘How the academic health center can impact global and local migrants health’, drawing on Qatar’s health sector experience, its academic health system partnership and its network of hospitals and primary health centres as well as discussing best practices across the world in management of the health of international migrants.

HE al-Kuwari also described how Qatar’s academic health system remains the only hospital system outside of the United States to achieve corporate Academic Medical Centre accreditation for all its hospitals simultaneously and how it is performing strongly compared to the best performing health systems in the world.

Qatar is ranked in the top 25 in the world for healthcare access and quality, according to the World Health Authority, and is in the top quartile in the Universal Health Coverage Index according to the WHO and the World Bank. Qatar’s health system was ranked 5th best in the world and first in the Middle East by the 2018 Legatum Prosperity Index advancing from 13th in 2017 and 27th in 2008.

During the conference, the minister also met with Dr Steven Kanter, president of the AAHC, and Dr Edward Abraham, executive vice president for Health Affairs and CEO of UHealth.

Dr Kanter said, "Inspirational leadership and effective management of academic health centres have been the central concerns of AAHC throughout its 50 years. As we celebrate the golden anniversary of this association, it is essential to acknowledge the ever more significant role academic health centres play in healthcare delivery, research, and education on the global stage."