The Gulf Center for Disease Prevention and Control, represented by the Public Health Emergency Department, held a workshop on the Gulf Plan for Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the city of Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the presence and participation of representatives from member states and international experts from a number of international organizations in the field of public health.
During the workshop, the draft public health emergency preparedness plan was presented and reviewed, and the development processes of the plan were reviewed, and they provided their comments on the priorities and proposed actions to improve and implement the plan. The workshop included multiple group work sessions, which allowed for a deeper discussion of the main issues related to the plan and ways to enhance its ability to support Member States to manage public health emergencies efficiently.
The workshop also highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperation between the Gulf countries to confront health threats, including chemical, biological and natural disasters. In addition, the discussions focused on absorbing the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and developing an operational plan to respond to public health emergencies.
The meeting concluded by emphasizing the importance of continued cooperation between Gulf countries to achieve public health goals.