US and Bahrain building partnerships to improve technology and services

TDT | Manama      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Ashen Tharaka  

The US-Bahrain Healthcare Forum 2023 was held yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Bahrain's Convention Centre, under the patronage of the Supreme Council of Health chairman, Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.

The forum, organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Bahrain and the US Cooperative for International Patient Programmes (USCIPP), belongs to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL).

It brought together healthcare stakeholders and government leaders from the US and Bahrain to build awareness of opportunities for private and public sector cooperation between the two healthcare communities and to provide a strategic platform for building partnerships and facilitating international cooperation.

In an interview with The Daily Tribune, Qays H. Zu’bi, President of AmCham Bahrain, emphasised the importance of the forum in strengthening Bahrain’s healthcare system. "The United States is number one in the world in terms of healthcare and technology," he said.

"And therefore, the benefits are basically sitting with the number one, learning from the number one, and being able to join hands with the number one to improve our healthcare system."

The US Ambassador to Bahrain, H.E. Steven C. Bondy, also spoke to The Daily Tribune about the goals of the forum. "The idea is to build partnerships by sharing technology, sharing information, and sharing ways to do business that will provide better health outcomes for Bahraini citizens and residents of the country," he said.

One of the key highlights of the forum was a panel discussion on international partnerships in healthcare, featuring Milly Valverde, Director of Destination Medicine Global Health Care at the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University, Dr. Mohammad Al Haddad, Chief of International Patient Services, Indiana University Health, and Dr. Kasim Omar Ardati, Managing Director of the Bahrain Specialist Hospital. During the panel discussion, Valverde spoke about the importance of women in medicine.

"The majority of physicians now are women," she said. "And as well, last week we were evaluating that the average age for women physicians is higher than men. It’s something that we in the United States have to learn. Women in medicine are still underrepresented."

Dr. Ardati emphasised the importance of maintaining high standards of healthcare in Bahrain. "We are very interested in keeping the standards as high as possible and providing the healthcare that is needed. In my opinion, for patients who may not need to travel at all, or if they do, they need to go to the right place," he said.

The US-Bahrain Healthcare Forum 2023 was a valuable opportunity for healthcare stakeholders and government leaders from the two countries to come together and explore ways to strengthen their cooperation.

The forum’s focus on building partnerships and facilitating international cooperation is essential to improving healthcare outcomes for Bahraini citizens and residents.