H.H. Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al-Said, Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan inaugurated yesterday evening the 7th International Conference in Health Issues in Arab Community at Al Bustan Palace Hotel. The Conference, which will be continued for several days was organized by the Ministry of Health and the Arab Center for Economic and Social Services in the USA. The opening ceremony was attended by a number of undersecretaries, senior officials, participants from governmental and private health institutes, and representatives from international and American health-related associations, universities and centers. Dr. Yahya Al Azri, Senior Consultant Hepatobiliary & Transplant Surgeon in RH and conference co-chair pointed out in his welcome address to the sultanate’s significant progress in all aspects of health care with its overall social and economic dimensions. The health achievements represented in the deployment of a wide network of health services, covering all parts of the Sultanate, which has had a direct impact in improving the public health situation in the country, resulted in the significant decrease in mortality rates, and the incidence of diseases, and decrease in infants’ mortality rates at birth. Over 300 professionals from different countries including Arab Americans, MENA region, local and global scientists & researchers with 140 international speakers from different health organizations from 33 countries have participated in this global forum.  It is worth mentioning that the Arab Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) is one of the largest non-profit Arab American human services agency in the US. The Center provides a variety of social, economic, health and educational services through eight centers and more than 100 programs. For the first time since its inception, the conference is held beyond the borders of the U.S. Oman was chosen for its ideal organization for medical and scientific meetings and conferences as well as its great role in public health and primary health care.

Ministry of Health has started earlier last year the preparations process for this important conference and a local committee with team work objective was formed in order to support all the logistics required to make it successfully happen.