Sharjah to explore criteria for expansion of healthy cities

The Executive Committee for Expansion of Healthy Cities in Sharjah, in cooperation with the World Health Organisation, WHO, has announced that a training workshop will be held in June to enhance the skills and capabilities of coordinators and teams tasked with enforcing criteria of the expansion of healthy cities.

The announcement was made during a meeting held on Tuesday at the Muwaileh Suburb Council, under the chairmanship of Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Muhairi, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and in the presence of the members of the committee. The meeting saw discussions on work mechanisms and highlighted developments in the implementation of the criteria for expanding healthy cities.

Dr. Al Muhairi stated the committee’s keenness to meet the requirements of joining WHO, according to the highest quality standards. He pointed out that the organisation of the training workshop comes as part of the committee’s programmes aimed at providing working teams with the necessary information and skills to meet the joining requirements within the deadline.

During the meeting, the committee members discussed the objectives and criteria of accession, while outlining key initiatives and success stories in Sharjah, as well as future plans. It saw the approval of forming a coordinating committee for the programme, as well as a working team for each of the criterion to follow up on the implementation of the Healthy Cities Programme standards.

The WHO standards include community organisation and mobilisation for health and development; cooperation, partnership and intersectoral advocacy; community information centre, water, sanitation, food safety and air pollution; as well as health development. Other standards are emergency preparedness and response; education and literacy; skills development, vocational training and capacity building.

The meeting was attended by Sheikha Najla Ali Al Mualla, Director of the Central Laboratories Department at Sharjah Municipality; Hessa Al Khaja, Director of the Sharjah Educational Zone, Brigadier General Khalifa Al Marri, Deputy Director-General of the Resources and Support Services at the Sharjah Police General Directorate; Dr. Amira Al Khaja, Director of the Primary Healthcare Centres at the Ministry of Health and Prevention; Hessa Al Hammadi, Manager of the Government Communication Department at the Sharjah Government Media Bureau; Hanadi Al Yafei, Director of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs; Abdullah Al Mehrazi, Director of Innovation and Development at the Department of Statistics and Community Development; and Kholoud Al Nuaimi, Director of Social Licencing at the Social Services Department.