WHO confirms Kuwait meets healthy city evaluation criteria
A World Health Organization (WHO) official confirmed today, Thursday, 9th January, that the services provided by the State of Kuwait in various fields have helped it meet the criteria for evaluating healthy cities since the beginning of the evaluation phase.
Dr. Samar Al-Faqi, Regional Advisor for Health Promotion and Social Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), that several components in the State of Kuwait have helped it overcome the obstacles and meet the standards required by the organization to evaluate healthy cities. This includes the services provided in areas such as quality education, health, drinking water, sanitation, among others.
During her visit with the World Health Organization delegation to Kuwait, Dr. Al-Faqi presented the most prominent challenges facing the implementation of the Healthy Cities Initiative at the regional level. She highlighted that 40 percent of the countries in the region are unfortunately suffering from wars and emergency situations, which poses a significant challenge to the initiative.
Al-Faqi also mentioned that among the challenges is the indifference or inconsistency in the interaction between those responsible for cities and their succession, as well as the lack of readiness or qualification of some countries’ communities for volunteer work initiatives.
Significantly, Al-Faqi added that another challenge is the misconception of the term “healthy city,” where it is often understood as simply building hospitals or health centers or focusing solely on health from a clinical perspective, which is incorrect. According to the World Health Organization, health is not just the absence of disease, but rather a state of complete mental, physical, social, and overall well-being.
Al-Faqi explained that Kuwait has taken it upon itself to clarify the broader concept of health and the importance of cooperation between sectors, especially since the factors that affect health fall under the jurisdiction of other sectors.
The environment, urban planning, and education all have an impact on health. The Ministry of Health is concerned with the service aspect, so Kuwait has clearly disseminated this concept to everyone. As a result, cooperation between sectors has been excellently enhanced in implementing healthy cities.
Al-Faqi pointed out that the governors of the governorates of the State of Kuwait play a crucial role in greatly promoting the healthy cities program. She appreciated Kuwait’s efforts, highlighting that it is one of the very few countries with a dedicated healthy cities department in the Ministry of Health. She also noted the significant role of volunteer work, the Kuwaiti national spirit, cooperative societies, and diwaniyas, where many important issues are discussed and used to raise community awareness.
Furthermore, Al-Faqi added that there is a trend for the health city initiative in the State of Kuwait to be implemented at the governorate level, and this initiative has received significant interest from the governors.
This expansion is based on experience and follows a solid strategic foundation aligned with the state’s policy and strategy. It is more effective because it will offer multiple models within each governorate. This is what distinguishes Kuwait, as it is seen in every health city how it is tailored to meet the specific needs, society, and age groups within it.
The visit of the World Health Organization delegation to the State of Kuwait, which concluded today after five days, was aimed at re-evaluating the Yarmouk Health City for re-accreditation. The Yarmouk Health City had originally obtained the accreditation certificate as a healthy city in 2018.
Since the organization’s certificate is valid for three years, it is currently being re-evaluated, along with the evaluation of three new cities: Cordoba and Daiya in the Capital Governorate, and Shaab in the Hawalli Governorate.
