The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) will convene a meeting to review the joint country cooperation strategy under the auspices of H E Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid al Sa’eedi, Minister of Health, on Thursday.  

During the event the 2020-2021 biennial programme for the WHO and MoH cooperation will be signed by H E Dr Sa’eedi and Dr Akjemal Magtymova, Representative of WHO. The WHO cooperation is prioritised to support national policies, strategies and plans and aligned along with the WHO’s Triple Billion Target of promoting health, keeping the world safe, and serving the vulnerable as articulated in WHO’s Thirteen’s General Programme of Work (GPW13).  

The key focus of the GPW13 is a measurable impact for people at the country level, aiming at improved quality of lives and protected health of people.  

The technical session will be chaired by Dr Sultan bin Yaarub al Busaidi. The session will discuss the findings of the mid-term review and the proposed four-pronged WHO-MoH country cooperation strategy aligned with national targets, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the WHO’s GPW13 and the Health for All by All vision for the Eastern Mediterranean Region. WHO and MoH will highlight a number of flagship initiatives, including patient safety, healthy cities network, and strengthening national capacity for international health regulations.  

The past years of joint collaboration have been underscored by the achievements in disease elimination (measles and rubella declared eliminated in Oman in 2019), establishment of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety Training, strengthening non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and NCDs risk factors surveillance, among other.  

“Oman is increasingly recognised as an attractive hub for the international and global health forums not only due to its hospitality and neutral platform, but also for its capacity to showcase best practices,” said Dr Akjemal. 

It was in Oman, where the health ministers of all the countries of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region reaffirmed their commitment towards Universal Health Coverage signing a UHC Compact in 2018, and representatives from over 100 member states and over 40 non-state actors, and youth across the globe gathered for an NCD Global meeting organised in 2019.  

“WHO and Oman’s Ministry of Health enjoy equal partnership. Oman is witnessed to step up its role in global health agenda, health diplomacy and regional health development, serving as a model health system that can be shared with other countries.  

“The country also offers training and technical support in the areas of public health laboratories, vaccine cold chain, emergency management as well as other opportunities for technical exchange and fellowship support,” said Dr Akjemal.  

Since 1970, Oman has been a member of WHO, a 194-member state United Nations specialised agency.  

WHO’s current technical cooperation is responding to Oman’s national drive to address the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, supporting the achievements in prevention and control of communicable diseases, anchoring the improvements of health over the life course, accompanying the country’s efforts in strengthening the health system to ensure universal health coverage. 

Primary Health Care and Health for All have been a blueprint for Oman’s achievements in public health, making it a country with a ‘near-universal’ health coverage.