The Ministry of Health (MOH) joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in its seventy-fifth-anniversary celebration at Grand Hormuz Hotel.

The celebration was held under the patronage of Sayyida Sana bint Hamad bin Saud Al Busaidi, Advisor of the Minister of Education, with the presence of H.E. Dr. Jean Jabbour, WHO representative to the Sultanate of Oman, and a number of ambassadors, Directors General, heads of school health departments in the governorates, and a number of officials from the MOE and WHO.

The program of the ceremony included visual presentations on the WHO history, the schools’ celebration of World Health Day, and the student activities and events organized by the school health nurses to celebrate World Health Day, along with a play that highlighted tobacco control.

In addition, the celebration addressed the achievements of the joint committee between MOE, MOH, and WHO to promote the healthy environment in the school community.

On this occasion, Dr. Jean Jabbour, WHO representative, praised the achievements and successes achieved by the WHO over the last seven decades in promoting public health and preventing diseases to improve the social and health conditions, and human care.

Dr. Jabbour added that the world has experienced many serious challenges, conflicts, and health emergencies the affected the societies in all countries of the world. Over decades, the WHO has been working on tackling the main challenges including smallpox eradication, combating many infectious diseases such as polio, developing International Health Regulations, and working with the member states to strengthen the public emergency preparedness and response systems.

The WHO representative pointed out that the Sultanate of Oman has taken the first steps to implement the “One Health” concept in line with the global concern in this field since the launch of the “Muscat Declaration” on antimicrobial resistance and the promotion of healthy cities programs.  

Dr. Nasser Suleiman Al-Salmani, Director of School and University Health at MOH, indicated that the joint committee between MOE, MOH and WHO aims to promote the health environment in the school community through developing policies and strategies to provide a healthy educational environment for all, proposing and implementing initiatives that will improve school health, and student nutrition, as well as enhancing joint work between the three parties.

Moreover, Al-Salmani added that there are many projects that the committee worked on such as developing a protocol for health precautions for the Covid-19 pandemic in the school environment to ensure student health and safety. The committee also worked to document the health-promoting school’s initiative, by creating a website for the initiative and digital transformation to cope with Oman Vision 2040.