Doha 27 May 2022: Dr. Hanadi Al-Hamad, National Lead for Healthy Ageing for the Qatar Ministry of Public Health (National Health Strategy 2018 – 2022) and Medical Director of Rumailah Hospital and the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) was among a cohort of international recipients of World Health Organization awards this weekend.
Organized during the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, the special awards ceremony on the 27th of May 2022 recognized seven individuals from different countries who were awarded specific prizes for their remarkable achievements in public health related areas.
Dr. Al-Hamad, who is also the Chairperson of the Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care at HMC, was the sole recipient of the prestigious “His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for Research in Health Care for the Elderly and in Health Promotion”.
During the formal awards ceremony, which was attended by Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, and the Qatar delegation participating in the World Health Assembly, His Excellency Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed, Minister of Health of Kuwait presented Dr Al Hamad with the prize on behalf of the State of Kuwait Health Promotion Foundation. The Minister commended Dr. Al-Hamad on her tremendous efforts in enhancing care of older persons which has resulted in her significant achievements.
Dr. Al-Hamad expressed her appreciation to the Assembly President and HE Dr. Al-Saeed for the honor of being selected as the recipient of this important prize: “I gladly accept this award not only for myself but also on behalf of my whole team, who have been the cornerstone of all that we have achieved and all that we still plan to do in the future in developing best practice care for our older population in Qatar and the region.”
“In my capacity as Qatar’s National Health Strategy lead for healthy aging, I have been committed to enhancing high quality healthcare services for older adults, long-term care patients and people living with dementia. Alongside these efforts to develop better clinical services, we have also focused on illness prevention strategies designed to promote healthy ageing awareness and practices in our population. The recognition is due to our efforts to achieve the goals of our National Health Strategy 2018-2022 which focuses on care of our elder population and our Qatar National Vision 2030,” added Dr. Al-Hamad.
The theme of this year’s World Health Assembly is ‘Health for peace, peace for health’ and the recently elected President of the Assembly, His Excellency Dr Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh, Djibouti Health Minister, presided over the awards ceremony, along with senior representatives responsible for presenting each award to their respective awardee.
