Dubai conference calls for more coordinated approach to global health

Apr 8 2010

Marking the conclusion of the three-day Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development (DIHAD) conference Tuesday, conference attendees called for humanitarians to adopt a more coordinated approach to tackling global health needs, the National reports. "Speakers, including health professionals and officials from international organisations, stressed the need to share medical knowledge and innovations during a crisis, citing the recent Haiti earthquake," the newspaper writes.  

The article also notes how the conference focused on groups joining together to meet the health needs of the world's hungry. Finbarr Curran, of the World Food Programme, highlighted the urgency for action on this front during an address at the conference (Constantine, 4/6).

"The conference reviewed the main trends in terms of health challenges, at the global level, and attempted to identify some constructive solutions," WAM/Emirates News Agency reports. "In this context, it was reiterated that while global health is one of the greatest challenges of our time, it is a challenge we can address. Maternal and child mortality, it was agreed, must be reduced, also by implementing some identified solutions to a number of recurring diseases affecting mostly the poor (e.g. diarrhea)" (4/6).