Sharjah on WHO healthy cities’ list

The Emirate of Sharjah has been placed on the regional map of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) network of Healthy Cities International Programme. The Emirate is the first city in the region to register with the network, which will help Sharjah grow to be a powerful force for health and sustainable development, top officials said on Tuesday. WHO offers a dynamic platform for health advocacy provided with political, strategic and technical support to the cities in the network, in addition to resources of experience and expertise in health development at a global level. Sheikh Essam Bin Saqer Al Qassimi, chairman of Sharjah Ruler’s Office and head of the UAE’s Affairs in WHO, and Dr Said Arnaout, the UAE Country Desk officer at WHO, have signed an agreement that allows for the accession of the Emirate into the global platform. Sheikha Jameela Bint Muhamad Al Qassimi, deputy director of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, said this is another step taken by Sharjah towards the betterment of the emirate’s health related and environmental aspects. “The collaboration with WHO will improve the standard of life for the residents in Sharjah, as an integrated plan of action will be floated to raise the quality level in ensuring safety in roads, food and construction sectors as well as in environment and waste management fields,” said Dr Saqer Al Mulla, deputy head of Health Supporting System under Sharjah Ruler’s Office. “The Sharjah authorities are keen on reducing the rates of morbidities and mortalities occurring in the Emirate. To achieve this goal, numerous activities will be rolled out under the global forum to curb the prevalence of non-communicable diseases and prevent outbreaks of contagious diseases in the Emirate,” he added. Dr Mohammed Assai Ardakani, WHO’s regional adviser for Community-Based Initiatives, elaborated that the programme focuses on facing challenges caused by the fast-paced urbanisation that leads to poor health due to adverse effects on the environment. “WHO will provide technical support and share experience of other cities to effectively protect Sharjah’s population by employing preventive measures that would act as a countering force against the negative effects of rapid urbanisation,” he noted. “A special committee will be formed to co-ordinate all activities and supervise training programmes for volunteers. In the initial stage, the committee will assess the existing health challenges based on the available data, so to identify the major areas of attention and to prioritise immediate actions to address them,” Dr Ardakani pointed out. There is a great emphasis on educating people to change unhealthy lifestyles and dietary habits, quit hazardous habits and physical inactivity that are the major contributors to the most-common and alarming diseases. “The commitment of the government, available plan of actions, co-ordination of mechanism, availability of intellectuals and knowledge and small-scale projects are the five key elements for the success of the programme,” he concluded. WHO specifies that a healthy city continually creates and improves physical and social environments by expanding community resources to enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential.