Healthy cities conference recommends adopting community health initiative programmes

Salalah: The first Oman Conference for healthy cities concluded today with several key recommendations.

The recommendations include the following: adopting community health initiative programs as a tool to achieve health development goals, primarily to reduce the spread of non-communicable diseases and to consider them the primary preventive arm; emphasizing the importance of establishing a national network for healthy cities and villages, along with creating an electronic platform for assessing cities and monitoring initiatives; and including health-promoting commercial centers and universities.

Participants also recommended exchanging experiences among various countries in the region that implement community health initiative approaches, supporting and promoting the twinning of cities and villages that apply this approach at the regional level, calling for the establishment of community information observatories

The first Oman conference for healthy cities was organized by the Ministry of Health, represented by the Directorate General of Health Services in Dhofar Governorate and the Directorate General of Health Services and Programmes at the Ministry, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Conference featured several scientific sessions at the conclusion of its proceedings including a main session titled 'Healthy Cities and Non-Communicable Diseases,' This was followed by several breakout sessions on non-communicable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean region, community partnership for high-quality and human-centered health services, mental health and accreditation standards for healthy cities, local interventions to combat smoking featuring models from the healthy city of Nizwa, Kuwait's experience in implementing health-promoting malls, the role of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth in promoting physical activity and building healthier communities.

Following this, another main discussion session was held on 'Healthy Cities: Between Reality and Aspirations – Opportunities and Challenges'. Another discussion session was held on 'Voluntary Work in Healthy Cities'.

Further, a discussion session was held on strategies for healthy cities and villages in improving the social determinants of health, followed by breakout sessions, including topics on child-friendly communities, social determinants of tuberculosis, mechanisms for establishing national networks for healthy cities with experiences from within and outside the Eastern Mediterranean region, sustainable healthy villages, and the role of the healthy city of Sur in achieving sustainable development.

The Conference’s aims included discussing the current status of the Healthy Cities program in the Sultanate of Oman, including its strengths and weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities based on success stories and lessons learned.