New WHO office, new horizon, new opportunities to advance health and wellbeing in Bahrain
Inaugurated on 26 July 2021, the WHO Country Office in Bahrain, located in the capital city of Manama, became the 20th country office in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Hitting the ground running, the country office addressed Bahrain’s health priorities and capitalized on opportunities to achieve WHO global and regional strategies. Several concrete outputs were achieved through the provision of advisory services, convening of stakeholders, strengthening multisectoral partnerships, and technical collaboration all aligned with WHO’s Vision 2030 Eastern Mediterranean Region. As a new country office, the desired impact and outcome of WHO’s commitment in Bahrain aims to achieve a healthier, safer, fairer future for all Bahraini people in the years to come.
“The WHO Country Office will provide strategic, technical, policy and service delivery support to the government in its work to advance health and wellbeing at the national, regional and international levels.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
WHO Director-General
The first WHO Representative in Bahrain, Dr Tasnim Atatrah, was appointed on 1 June 2021. Strategies were quickly developed to drive progress on health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Key areas of interest in Bahrain include: noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), COVID-19 response, universal health coverage (UHC), assistive technology, and health innovation. National health authorities were motivated by WHO in-country collaboration, and a WHO Country Office workshop for national focal points convened key counterparts, streamlined communication, strengthened national capacities, and unified health for all agendas.
“Partnership for health is at the heart of WHO’s vision of Health for All by All in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Bahrain has been a key partner in the global and regional health arenas, and I am delighted that our partnership is now set to go even further.”
Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari
WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean
How did Bahrain do it, and how did the WHO Secretariat support Bahrain?
- Tobacco control – A virtual mission with the Ministry of Health and the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean was organized by the WHO Country Office to discuss strengthening tobacco control efforts in the region to achieve WHO triple billion and SDG targets. With inputs from WHO, the Government of Bahrain and national experts for the country’s national tobacco control programme developed a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound) action plan to reduce tobacco use prevalence.
- Mental health in schools – Guided by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean’s School Mental Health Programme, the country office facilitated participation of 32 in-country trainers from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education to attend the School Mental Health Package Workshop. The workshop promoted a three-step model to scale-up the programme, empower in-country trainers, and develop skills in health and social workforces.
- COVID-19 – Guided by WHO’s strategic priority to ensure one billion more people are better protected from health emergencies, the country office hosted a joint mission, including representatives from the three levels of WHO, to document COVID-19 success stories. Close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Supreme Council for Health and Office of the Prime Minister enabled access to key operational areas in hospitals, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing facilities, vaccination centers, and the ‘war room’ (the COVID-19 administrative hub). The war room produced real-time data dashboards which the government used for strategic decision-making. Results included bringing the country office into the WHO global health emergencies network and building the foundation for a platform for best practice exchange in health emergencies.
- NCD prevention – A joint mission of representatives of the United Nations Interagency Task Force for NCDs (UNITAF) and the three levels of WHO took place for NCD prevention, management strategies and documenting best practices in-line with Bahrain’s National Action Plan 2019-2030. With a population of 1.7 million (2021), NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease, are the leading causes of death in Bahrain, accounting for over 80% of total deaths. Members of the joint mission were connected to Ministry of Health officials and non-governmental organizations, including the Cancer Society, Bahrain Diabetes Society, and the Anti-Smoking Society. Resulting recommendations included: scaling up NCD prevention and management services, strengthening coordination across all relevant sectors, establishing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, investing in food systems, and developing research platforms for NCD progress.
- Dietary guidelines – Development of the Bahraini Dietary Guidelines was supported by the WHO Country Office using a cross-sectoral participatory process and resulted in the development of a comprehensive guide for policymakers, health professionals and individuals.
- Universal health coverage – Using the WHO Assistive Technology Capacity Assessment (ATA-C), Bahrain, with activity support from the WHO Country Office, became the first country in the region to develop a national action plan to improve access to assistive health technology.
- Accelerating progress towards health-related SDGs – Forging ahead in this area, the country office mapped key SDG stakeholders to strengthen intra-sectoral collaboration and coordination to realize the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean’s Vision 2023 Health for All by All and produced a factsheet on Bahrain’s trends and progress on advancing health-related SDGs.
“Creation of the new WHO Country Office in Bahrain has cemented results-oriented work on the ground through strengthened partnerships and regional collaboration even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Dr Tasnim Atatrah
WHO Representative in Bahrain and Head of Office
As a new country office, the desired impact and outcome of WHO’s commitment in Bahrain aims to achieve a healthier, safer, fairer future for all Bahraini people in the years to come.
Photo Credit: © Nadia Alaali, WHO Country Office in Bahrain
Photo Caption: WHO delegation from WHO headquarters and the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean visiting a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Bahrain.