For health heroes

TDT | Manama

The US $ 200,000-worth “Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Award for Bahraini Doctor”, launched by Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa earlier this year, has commenced working by establishing an administrative board. The court of HRH, the Prime Minister, named the board members who will set the stage for a November 4 - Bahraini Doctor’s Day- award ceremony.

Bahraini Doctors’ Day, which falls on the first Wednesday of November each year honours the outstanding contribution of Bahraini doctors in the fields of therapeutic, clinical and medical scientific research, innovation, and community service and development.

The award aims at appreciating the Bahraini doctors and motivating them to exert further efforts and contributions, encouraging the spirit of competitiveness among Bahraini doctors and improving the level of services provided in the public and private health institutions.

Undersecretary of the Court of HRH the Prime Minister, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa, chairs the newly formed board which will oversee and set the award policies, plans and programmes. The new board members are Advisor at HRH Premier’s Court, Abdulla Abbas Hamad, Director of Evaluation and Analysis at HRH Premier’s Court, Farida Abdulrahim Khonji, Financial Treasurer at the Bahrain Medical Society (BMS), Dr Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and Head of Process Re-engineering at the Ministry of Health, Mortada Hassan Hussain.

A committee under the chairmanship of Health Minister, Faeqa bint Said Al-Saleh, will select the winners. Committee members are Abdulla Abbas Hamad, Farida Abdulrahim Khonji, BMS President, Dr Ghada Al-Qassim, Regional Director of the World Health Organisation, Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr Ahmed bin Salem Al-Mandhari, Arabian Gulf University President, Dr Khalid Abdul Rahman Al-Ohaly, and President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI-Bahrain), Dr Samir Al Atoum.

International experts The committee also includes prominent international experts in the field of medical research from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European and American universities as members.

They are WHO Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance, Dr Hanan Balkhy, Professor Cathal Kelly, Professor Dame Parveen Kumar, Professor Kenneth Christopher, Professor Sotirios Nedios and Professor David Gordon.

The award committee will supervise the granting of the award, verify the nomination conditions and criteria are met, review the nominations, research papers, and other documents submitted by candidates, select winners and submit its for final decisions of the award board to announce them. The committee shall develop necessary scientific and technical criteria for award nomination, evaluation and procedures in coordination with the award board.