HE the Minister of State for Defence Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah met the Director of the Missile Defence Agency of the US Department of Defence Navy Vice-Admiral James Syring in Doha yesterday.
Talks during the meeting dealt with military co-operation and missile defence between Qatar and the United States, as well as regional security issues.

Transport Minister meets Bulgarian president
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev met the Minister of Transport HE Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti in Sofia yesterday.  
At the outset of the meeting, the Minister conveyed the greetings of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and his wishes for further progress to the bilateral relations between the two countries.
President Plevneliev reciprocated the Emir’s greetings and wished the relations between the two  countries further progress.  
In another meeting, HE the Minister of Transport met Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
Discussions during the meeting reviewed prospects of co-operation in transport, communications and information technology between Qatar and Bulgaria and means of enhancing them.
Qatar’s ambassador to Bulgaria Mohamed bin Ali al-Nuaimi attended the two meetings.


Assistant FM meets UN chief’s special adviser
HE the Assistant Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Meraikhi yesterday met Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General and Chairman of UNITAID Philippe Douste-Blazy, currently visiting the country.
During the meeting, they reviewed aspects of co-operation between Qatar and the international organisations and ways of enhancing them, as well as issues of common concern.
Several officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the meeting.


Advisory Council holds meeting
The Advisory Council yesterday held its weekly meeting chaired by HE the Speaker Mohamed bin Mubarak al-Khulaifi.  
HE the Secretary-General of the Advisory Council Fahad bin Mubarak al-Khayareen read out the agenda which was agreed upon. Then, the Council endorsed the minutes of its previous session.
The Council reviewed a draft law on psychological health and decided to refer it to the Services and Public Utilities Committee for further study.
Meanwhile, the Advisory Council’s Public Services and Utilities Committee held its regular meeting under its rapporteur Saqer Fahad al-Meraikhi.
The committee studied a draft law on psychological health and decided to submit its report to the Advisory Council.


Qatar attends GCC education meeting
Qatar is participating in the 18th GCC Higher Education and Scientific Research Ministers Committee, which will take place today in Riyadh.  
HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali-al-Hammadi will lead Qatar’s delegation to the meeting.  The two-day meeting discusses topics of enhancing the GCC work and the joint investment in education, as well as equality for the GCC youth in terms of admission and treatment in government universities and higher education institutions. The meeting will also discuss the vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques related to education. Particularly, the equality between all GCC citizens in terms of admission requirements in public universities in the GCC.


Follow-up plan for patients treated abroad
The Ministry of Public Health (MPH) will soon announce a comprehensive development plan to ensure follow-up treatment at the hospitals of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) for patients who have concluded their treatment abroad.
The MPH announced yesterday it will take all necessary measures to guarantee the best treatment services, immediately after the return of the patients from abroad to continue their treatment in Qatar, according to the set treatment schedule.
MPH pointed out that this protocol takes into consideration the best interests of the patients. An evaluation is done for the conditions of every patient. In case, more treatment abroad is required, steps will be taken to ensure that.
Further, MPH is taking the procedures to reduce the waiting period for the medical appointments of the patients abroad through co-ordination with the medical office and the service providers abroad. MPH is also working on developing a new electronic system to link all the entities concerned regarding treatment of citizens abroad to facilitate all the related financial, administrative and medical procedures and expedite the process of decision making and implementation.