The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) has been recently awarded the Global certification Mark (GC-Mark) for Health Policy & Legislation Development, achieving the platinum category, which is the highest certification level, in yet another achievement reflecting the ministry's commitment to international standards for developing health policies and legislation as a best practice.
The new accreditation culminates the ministry's endeavors being made to become a leading, sustainable and innovative institution in accordance with the best practices adopted, enhance health care services provided in the country and advance global competitiveness indicators.
The ministry has been granted the certification following a rigorous assessment to verify its compliance with all global requirements, standards and approved practices.
The assessment process measures the mechanism put in place to propose and develop policies and legislation related to public health and the health care sector to provide effective health services in accordance with international best practices, in addition scrutinizing how an entity is overseeing the implementation policies after approval, in coordination with the regulatory bodies and relevant authorities in the country.
The evaluation process also takes into consideration the initiatives launched to promote and raise awareness about policies and legislation related to the health sector in the country and evaluate the impact of health policies and legislation to ensure that they serve the purpose for which they were developed through systematic evaluation.
Dr. Mohamed Salim Al Olama, Under-Secretary at MoHAP, and Dr. Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for the Public Health Sector, received the GC-Mark Certificate at Ministry headquarters, in the presence of Dr. Lubna Ali Al Shaali, Director of Health Policies and Legislation Department.
First in the world
For his part, Dr. Al Olama congratulated the work team in the relevant department and commended their stellar performance, making the Ministry's Health Policies and Legislation Department the first in the world that obtain such a prestigious accreditation.
Al Olama affirmed that the ministry is committed to achieving patients' interests and protecting public health in the community, through the provision of the legislative framework, and regulatory and oversight services, which is a top priority for the ministry.
"This accreditation is a culmination of the ministry's efforts when it comes to developing health policies and legislations and represents a catalyst to continue on the journey of success and create a distinguished work environment. This is how we can enrich the health sector’s gains, enhance global confidence in the high quality of UAE’s health services and improve performance indicators based on proactive strategies," said Dr. Hussein Al Rand.
Effective Policies
For her part, Dr. Lubna said that the MoHAP Health Policies and Legislation Department obtained the certification by virtue of some notable achievements made in this field. The department has developed and implemented an effective policy and prominent legislations in line with the standards, principles and concepts of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Policymaking Process.
GC MARK is a globally registered and approved trademark, which indicates that a product, service or institution conforms to a number of requirements and standards developed by specialized experts from a number of international bodies and institutions under the supervision of the DQS global organization, which specializes in audits and certifications of management systems and processes. GC MARK’s accreditation covers many specialized areas in quality and safety, policy and legislation, crisis and disaster management, sustainability, data and knowledge management, innovation and other areas. DQS is one of the leading certification bodies for management systems worldwide, with 85 offices in 60 countries, and 2500 auditors and experts worldwide, and is headquartered in Frankfurt - Germany.