Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi on Thursday said that the appointment of Dr. Nadeem Jan a top public health specialist as Health Minister, reflects the seriousness of the Government of Pakistan towards health sector.

During meeting with the minister, the ambassador lauded the Government of Pakistan’s approach of assigning the right man for right job on his appointment as the country’s health minister.

The ambassador presented the Minister of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Dr Nadeem Jan, a joint invitation letter from the UAE Minister for Health and Prevention, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and the Director-General WHO on the forthcoming 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Nov-Dec this year.

The Minister for Health welcomed the dignitaries and appreciated the UAE exponential support to Pakistan in health system development, particularly for the Polio eradication under UAE PAP and for human health and well-being interconnected with climate change.

He said that the UAE is Pakistan’s strong and valuable partner, and that the brotherly relations between the two countries were bound to strengthen in the times to come.

The minister expressed his keen desire to work whole heartedly for the health and well-being of his nation and make some tangible improvement in the health sector to fulfill the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

The UAE leadership is interested in establishing health projects that serve the Pakistani people and looking for the possibilities of forging joint partnerships in the healthcare sector, as expressed by the ambassador.

The two sides also discussed the importance of enhancing joint action to address climate change, particularly as the UAE is committed to supporting global climate action by hosting the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) this November at Dubai Expo City.

The minister expressed that eradication of polio from Pakistan as well as from the world is very close to his heart and hence, wished this task to be completed by the end of this year.

“I have tasked the polio program leadership to spare no effort in realizing this goal. I am devoting major part of my efforts to polio eradication and we are already working on an emergency initiative to stop polio,”the minister said.

The Health Minister and the UAE Ambassador expressed a mutual desire to celebrate World Polio Day this year in a grand manner to be held on October 24, 2023.

The Secretary Health, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani was also present during the meeting.