PHCC, Gold Sponsor of the first Gulf Metrology Forum

The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) announced that the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is the Gold Sponsor of the 1st Gulf Metrology Forum and Exhibition. The Forum is organised in collaboration with Qatar’s Ministry of Environment, the GCC Standardisation Organization (GSO) and GULFMET under the patronage of His Excellency Engineer Ahmad Bin Amer Al-Hemaidi, Qatar’s Minister of Environment who will attend the event. It will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Doha, Qatar on the 14th and 15th of December, 2015.

Dr. Mariam Ali Abdulmalik, Managing Director of PHCC said: “The 1st GMF is an important opportunity for the Corporation to be acquainted with the latest developments in the field of calibration and measurement, particularly relating to the healthcare sector. PHCC constantly endeavours to improve healthcare services and achieve comprehensive person-centred healthcare physically, mentally and socially. The Corporation seeks to offer adequate healthcare services in line with international standards.

GOIC Secretary General Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel commended the Primary Health Care Corporation for its decision to sponsor the 1st GMF. He underlined the important role of PHCC in boosting healthcare in Qatar and praised it for offering high-quality services to nationals and residents.

In this regard, the State of Qatar took its first steps in establishing a primary health care system and started to provide healthcare services through a range of clinics as early as 1954. In 1978, the Ministry of Health developed a comprehensive project to offer primary healthcare services via nine health centres throughout the country which provided comprehensive medical and healthcare services (preventive and curative). They were the patients’ first line of defence.

Today, PHCC deploys serious efforts through 21 primary healthcare centres distributed into three regions namely central, western and northern. Thirteen of these centres are located in Doha, while the rest of centres are located in populated areas all over the country to deliver a variety of healthcare services based on the location and needs of the different areas. PHCC has set a number of objectives such as keeping the population healthy, preventing diseases, diagnosing and treating patients and offering long-term and continuous
support for patients and their families from infants to the elderly, children, adolescents, adults, married couples and mothers.

In addition to that, a number of health centres offer specialty services to the society in order to promote a self-care model and a healthy lifestyle.

In light of the importance of healthcare services provided through these centres and to achieve the objectives of the National Health Strategy which emphasizes that the primary health care is the base for health system in the country, His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani issued Emiri Decree No. 15 on the 20th of February 2012 to establish PHCC. It is an independent corporation with its own independent budget.

The Forum

The First Gulf Metrology Forum has emerged in response to the growing metrological requirements in the market today. It has been the fruit of joint efforts between governments, technical institutions, in an effort to achieve common objectives in the areas of metrology activities in the Gulf and international markets.

Wide participation of international organizations and companies is expected to encourage manufacturing industries and services in the Gulf. The aim is to remove technical barriers hindering trade flow, to facilitate international cooperation in metrology sector, and to promote International-GCC agreements in the field of trade and economic cooperation. More than 300 figures, concerned with metrology in the Gulf States, are expected to participate.

The First Gulf Metrology Forum targets government and private laboratories, related institutions and companies, and Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Environment. It also targets industrial companies that operate in the following areas: oil, gas, energy, petrochemicals, metals and metal forming, electricity and electronics, medical supplies, as well as universities, scientific research institutions and international metrology and calibration institutions.

The most prominent objectives of the Forum is to exchange ideas on the best ways to raise awareness, on industrial and general levels, to comply with industrial measurements, and to provide an overview assessment of the requirements of industries and Gulf metrological services, and to review means to raise the national capacities in the field of industrial standards.

Other objectives include exchange of ideas on how to attract new metrological activities and areas, international practices to enhance metrological infrastructure as part of quality development in the Member States, highlighting of the role of national metrology centers and laboratories, review of the experiences of Member States in supporting metrology activities of local laboratories, discussion of ways of cooperation with the international
laboratories, and recognition of experts’ executable recommendations to support the activities of the GCC metrology.

The organization of this Forum has emerged from global reports of companies operating in the field of metrological services. Such reports indicate the increasing demand for metrological services in the coming period, and in all industrial sectors, especially the automotive sector, electronics, power generation and others. The improvement in the global economy will have its impact on the Gulf region, resulting in an increase in investments in many areas, such as energy, industry and services associated with them.

The main technical themes of the Forum are: raising awareness of the importance of metrology with all its scientific, industrial and legal levels, review of the experiences of the GCC countries in this area, cooperation with international institutions in order to develop and support the role of metrology, and communication between the concerned authorities in the GCC countries in the field of metrology, GCC cognitive and procedural environment, legal frameworks, research and applications.