Dr Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani

By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter

The number of work-related accidents, mortalities, injuries and diseases has been going down in Qatar for the last three years, pointed out a top official of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) on Friday.
Talking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of a day-long programme in connection with the ‘World Day for Safety and Health at Work’ organised at the Medical Commission, Dr Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of Public Health at SCH said that the working conditions and environment for the workers in the country has improved greatly over the last few years.
Dr Sheikh Mohamed said: “We are trying to handle more people by advising them about workplace health standards. We are also working with our partners in this regard and various embassies in the country are supporting our initiatives. We are able to provide necessary inputs for the workers to follow what is best for them.”
Dr Sheikh Mohamed also pointed out that the worker death rate in Qatar is one of the lowest in the world. He said a new health strategy was in the offing for labourers and employees in Qatar.
The official further noted “The country has different challenges and we are ready to face them. We are learning many things. However, accidents are going down. Death rate in traffic accidents in Qatar, has clearly gone down. At present the death rate from traffic accidents is 9 per 100,000 whereas it was 26 per 100,000 in 2006. The recent figures are almost equivalent to those of Singapore.”
Dr Sheikh Mohamed also stated that SCH will soon launch a campaign against smoking and issues of malnutrition. "We will also have similar campaigns on hypertension and diabetes. We are hoping to spread the educational activities on hypertension and diabetes and the steps to be taken to avoid them," he added.
The SCH official pointed out that facilities for the workers have improved greatly and several steps are being taken for better accommodation and recreational facilities for them. He added that many of the new facilities will be made available soon.