Doha, Media & Communication Dept., March 21
The State of Qatar hosted a roundtable meeting between delegations from the Ministry of Health of the Afghan caretaker government, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to coordinate efforts to eradicate polio and discuss the health situation in Afghanistan.
HE Minister of Health in the Afghan caretaker government Dr. Qalandar Ibad, HE Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater, HE Assistant Minister of Public Health for Health Affairs Dr. Salih Al Marri, representing HE the Minister of Public Health, WHO representatives headed by Director of the Polio Eradication Program at the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr. Hamed Jafari, UNICEF representatives led by Deputy Regional Director of UNICEF South Asia Noala Skinner, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation delegation chaired by the Foundation's Director of the Polio Eradication Program Dr. Jay Wenger participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, they discussed the progress made by the Ministry of Health in the Afghan caretaker government to eradicate polio and identified existing challenges and plans that could be adopted by the authorities to support the efforts of the Ministry of Health in the Afghan caretaker government in responding to the disease. Also, the meeting discussed the possibility of expanding polio eradication programs to build solid foundations for a health system that responds to the needs of the Afghan people.
In her opening speech at the meeting, HE Assistant Foreign Minister affirmed Qatar's position in support of Afghanistan and its brotherly people, praising the important role played by specialists and workers in the healthcare field, both women and men.
Her Excellency pointed out that good healthcare helps in the prosperity of local economies, stressing the readiness of the State of Qatar to contribute by providing training and projects to build the capacity of the health cadre in Afghanistan.
In his speech, HE Assistant Minister of Public Health for Health Affairs Dr. Salih Al Marri stated that polio is one of the diseases that the global community is about to eradicate. He underlined that concerted international efforts to eradicate the disease in Afghanistan would contribute to the total eradication of the disease, which is the goal that the WHO Subcommittee on Polio Eradication, co-chaired by the State of Qatar, is working on.
In turn, the delegation of the Ministry of Health in the Afghan caretaker government extended their thanks to the State of Qatar for its support for the Afghan people.
The delegation affirmed their readiness to support international programs that benefit the Afghan people, and the importance that those programs employ Afghan staff. The delegation also expressed their hope for taking decisions on the promises previously made regarding various projects.
During the discussions, the delegations of UNICEF, WHO, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation praised the efforts of the Ministry of Health in the Afghan caretaker government during the past period to address COVID-19 and polio, enumerating the restrictions that impede their work in Afghanistan and ways to facilitate their work by the caretaker government. The delegations noted the identification of the eastern and southeastern regions as areas of the spread of the disease and the measures taken to implement the optimal model for testing the population and providing preventive vaccinations by intensifying home visits.
In the closing session, the Qatari and the Afghan sides agreed to work together to facilitate the work of international health agencies in Afghanistan and employ Afghan cadres in their projects. The delegation of the Ministry of Health in the Afghan caretaker government shall present a clean sheet indicating the basic needs of the Afghan health sector, in addition to the preparation of signing a Letter of Intent (LI) between the Ministry of Public Health of Qatar and the Afghan Ministry of Health to cooperate in the field of capacity building and enhancing the capabilities of the Afghan health sector.
Polio is one of the infectious diseases that the world suffered from in the past, as it affected about 125 countries in 1988, which led to the infection of 1,000 children daily at that time. However, the great progress in the eradication programs of this disease led to its elimination by 99 percent. Therefore, the emergence of this disease again in regions such as Afghanistan and Pakistan is a matter of concern, and hence the importance of international action to contain the phenomenon before it exacerbates and spreads to other parts of the world.