Muscat – Continuing the central role played by the sultanate regionally and internationally in line with the belief of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in spreading the message of peace, Dr Hilal Ali al Sabti, Minister of Health, headed the sultanate’s delegation participating in the World Health Summit 2022 held in Berlin, Germany, till October 18.

Participation of Oman in this forum reflects its efforts in attaining cohesion and cooperation for peacekeeping and using health as a bridge for global peace.

The sultanate’s speech at the World Health Summit (WHS) session on Global Health Insights shed light on the significance of the Global Health for Peace Initiative (GHPI) and how health interventions can contribute to peace and social cohesion by fostering dialogue, building trust, or addressing grievances.

It emphasised that GHPI is founded on the firm conviction of Oman that local, regional and global peace is top priority, and a condition for social and economic development. It is an essential requirement for health development and improving the health status of people and the quality of life.

The initiative, co-founded by Oman and Switzerland, and approved by the WHO Executive Board, uses health as a way to reduce the gaps between conflicting parties, as a gateway to discuss peace-building means, and as an approach to engage these parties in an open dialogue on other related issues.
The address referred to the necessity of deploying the broader utilisation of health as a real bridge for peace. This is possible with the firm commitment of member states, partners and organisations to strengthen ties between health and peace.

WHS 2022 addresses global risks and threats, such as climate change and ecosystem degradation, as well as epidemics, natural and human-created disasters, conflicts, and violence. It also focuses on new approaches to investment in health and other health issues and challenges.