Doha: As part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) activities to mark International Day of Older Persons, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will participate in a high-level international meeting arranged by the office of the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus today. 

Dr. Hanadi Al Hamad, National Lead for Healthy Ageing and Medical Director of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Rumailah Hospital and Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI), will represent HMC in the meeting to discuss the healthcare challenges and needs of older adults in a public health context. 

“Our close collaboration with the WHO, in particular their Department of Ageing and Life Course, has resulted in regular joint initiatives, including the development of the WHO Decade for Healthy Ageing action plan (2020 – 2030). Our commitment is demonstrated through Qatar’s National Health Strategy 2018 – 2022, which identifies healthy ageing as one of the key priority groups and aims to create the right conditions for older people to increase their active life years, stay well and live at home wherever possible,” said Dr. Al Hamad.

In the last 50 years, the life expectancy of citizens in Qatar has risen by 15 percent to around 80 years. 

Although overall the country has a relatively young demographic, as of 2019, nearly 70,000 people were aged 60 and above, and this number is set to rise in the future, adding to the growing need for a national approach to promote healthy ageing.

“In recent years we have transformed our specialist services for older people to ensure this important population group receives the highest standard of care possible. 

“We have expanded capacity and service provision through the development of our Enaya long-term care facilities and the opening of the Daam Specialized Care Center, while also maximising the use of our homecare services to offer more care to older people outside the hospital setting,” added Dr. Al Hamad.    “I would like to highlight the measures put in place across the healthcare sector to protect the elderly as part of our overall COVID-19 strategy. 

“We understood very early on that older people are most vulnerable to severe complications of the virus and we immediately put in place a range of measures to protect them. These efforts have been central to Qatar achieving one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the world,”  said Dr. Al Hamad.

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