CAIRO – A joint Arab meeting of the ministries of health and finance kicked off Monday at the Secretariat General of the Arab League (AL) to follow up on the implementation of the Arab strategy for a health-friendly budget and review its goals.
The two-day meeting aims to develop an implementation plan for the strategy, through discussions with relevant entities from the ministries of health and finance to enhance ways to move forward in achieving the desired goals.
The meeting is co-organised by the AL, the Regional Office of the World Health Organisation for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund for Arab States (UNFPA).
Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, the AL assistant secretary general for social affairs, said that the meeting is meant to follow up on the implementation of resolution no. 3 issued by the 59th ordinary session of the Arab health ministers’ council on May 21, 2023 regarding adopting the Arab strategy for health-friendly budget.
In a recorded speech, Abu Ghazaleh said that the strategy serves as a reference for Arab countries to develop health budgets that are more responsive and flexible to their people’s needs.
The strategy prioritizes the role of health ministries in ensuring the efficiency of managing public funds through boosting the policies of expenditures, Abu Ghazaleh added.
UNFPA Regional Director Laila Bakr, in a recorded message, underscored the necessity of introducing flexible health programs that are capable of affording services for all people along with securing funds for health services.
