UAE, March 21, 2018 - Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Yousif Al Serkal, Assistant Undersecretary for the Hospitals Sector at Ministry of Health and Prevention and Chairman of the Executive Committee of National Indicators of Cardiovascular Diseases and Cancer, the subcommittee of the National Indicators of Cardiovascular Diseases and Cancer has successfully conducted a meeting aimed at implementing and following up on its programs and activities for the year 2018. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Mona Al Kuwari, Director of the Specialized Healthcare Department, along with other representatives from the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Prime Minister's Office, Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment, Health Authorities, Emirates Cardiac Society (ECS) and entities involved in the follow-up of the national indicator functions.

HE Dr. Yousif Al Serkal said that the Ministry of Health and Prevention, in cooperation with the federal, local and private sectors, is working to improve the quality of life and reduce mortality from cardiovascular diseases. The move falls in line with the Ministry’s strategy to provide comprehensive and integrated health care in innovative and sustainable ways to ensure community prevention of disease.

Dr. Mona Al Kuwari, Chairperson of the Subcommittee, emphasized on the key role of the subcommittee in accelerating the implementation of the national strategy and policies regarding the national indicator of cardiovascular diseases. The mission of the subcommittee is to follow up the programs and initiatives and review the achievement reports of all related entities, as part of the objectives of the executive team of national indicators of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This comes within the framework of the national strategy to reduce mortality from cardiovascular diseases, and in line with the goals of the national agenda 2021 that aims to achieve a world-class health system and make the UAE one of the best countries in the world in terms of quality of healthcare.

During the meeting, representatives of the health authorities presented a summary of the achievements of the initiatives that seeks to achieve the goals of the committee as well as its future plans. Attendees concluded the meeting by focusing on eight programs in 2018 in addition to the programs that have been ongoing since the launch of the National Agenda for the UAE vision 2021. Some of the programs include the completion of a national database on cardiovascular disease, the consolidation of the efforts of ambulance services, the provision of self-evaluation tools for heart diseases, and heart experts program. All programs remain consistent with the national indicator policy.