MoPH symposium to focus on ‘A Healthy City for Children’

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is organising a symposium, ‘A Healthy City for Children’, in collaboration with the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) at Mandarin Oriental, Doha hotel in Msheireb tomorrow.The symposium will see the participation of decision-makers and local and international experts.It will showcase key local, regional and international plans, initiatives and experiences for innovation and the development of an action plan for a healthy city for children in Qatar, and focus on addressing childhood obesity in the urban environment, the MoPH has said in a statement.WISH is an initiative of Qatar Foundation.“The symposium will officially mark the start of a journey for building a coalition of policy-makers, researchers, academics and leaders from different sectors and industries to improve health and well-being based on the ‘Health in all policies’ approach, which is one of the National Health Strategy’s priorities,” the statement notes.The event will review regional and international experiences in the field of healthy cities, such as those developed in Tirana, the capital of Albania, Sweden, Kuwait and Oman.It will include two key panel discussions under the following themes: ‘The challenges of combating childhood obesity at the city level: reflections on international experiences’ and ‘Vision for a healthy city in Qatar: solutions, sustainability and commitments’, with the participation of local and international officials and experts.Further, there will be two workshops: ‘Health policy: polices needed for healthy city for children’ and ‘Health curricula: the role of schools in education and the provision of healthy food and drink to healthy children’. The symposium will also support the priority of ‘Healthy children and adolescents’ in the National Health Strategy 2018-2022.A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving physical and social environments and expanding community resources that enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential.“The ‘Health in all policies’ approach will offer healthy choices and make our cities a more child-friendly environment for children to live, play, learn and grow better in,” the statement adds.