Sultan Al Qasimi witnessed NCD Alliance Forum launch

His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah witnessed the inauguration of the global forum on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) held under the patronage and presence of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Founder and Royal Patron of the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP) and International Ambassador for the World Cancer Declaration of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and International Ambassador for Childhood Cancer for UICC.

During his opening address at the Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre His Highness Sultan Dr Sultan Al Qasimi welcomed delegates from the UAE and around the globe. “The emirate of Sharjah grants all human beings love and appreciation. We strive for all humankind at the local and internal level in this field, which has been overlooked by many officials. Now NCDs have reached a level that cannot be ignored anymore because they will impact everything, they impact humanity as a whole. Therefore we see there is a major responsibility and now today you are opening up the way for addressing the issue in NCDs Alliance Forum. This forum must have a main focus and focal point and communication to ensure it follows up in the implementation of the forums recommendations.”

His Highness added, “We will do all we can from our side and want to provide you all kinds of material and moral support. Therefore we offer all our medical resources and experts at your disposal. We have the medical complex that includes medical, surgical, research and scientific centres that have been furnished with state of the art technologies. Over the past few days we also established the cancer research center in collaboration medical research centers worldwide. We place all of these centres at your disposal. I hope this conference will achieve its

objective and we look forward to your recommendations. You are paving the way for finding solution to NCDS and we wish you every success.”

The inaugural session held under the theme “NCD Advocacy and Accountability in the Post-2015 Era”, was attended by HRH Princess Ghida Al-Talal, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, King Hussein Cancer Foundation; HRH Princess Dina Mired, Director General, King Hussein Cancer Foundation, Honorary Chairperson of the Jordan Breast Cancer Program; HE Abdulla Ali Mahyan, Chairman of Sharjah Health Authority and Healthcare City, Chairman of Board of Trustees at University Hospital Sharjah; His Excellency Mohamed Obaid Al Zaabi, head of Protocol Department, Khalid Jassim Al Midfa, Director General of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority; Noura Al Noman, Chairperson of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi Executive office, HE Dr Abdul Aziz Al Muhairi, Director of Sharjah Health Authority; Dr Cary Adams, CEO Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and Past Chair, NCD Alliance Steering Group; Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus, PAHO, NCD Alliance Expert Advisory Group; Sir Trevor Hassell, President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition and Government of Barbados Special Envoy on NCDs and Chairman of the Barbados National NCD Commission.; Ms Johanna Ralston, NCD Alliance Vice-Chair & CEO World Heart Federation (WHF).

In her keynote address, HE Ameera Binkaram, President of the Board of Directors, Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP) welcomed delegates to Sharjah, known as the smiling Emirate and spoke about the many health programs launched in Sharjah. She said, “Sharjah has launched several landmark initiatives to battle diseases through educational and awareness campaigns. It is home to many health societies and organisations that help consolidate the emirate's stature as a global model for a healthy life. We are proud that Sharjah continues to raise hope thanks to the vision and directives of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, and the close follow up of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi. Today, we are here due to her leadership in order to discuss the ways and means to tackle non-communicable diseases throughout the world, particularly in low-and middle-income countries.”

BinKaram added that Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi established the first society dedicated to the care of cancer patients in the UAE, the Friends of Cancer Patients Society, which has, since then, worked tirelessly to support cancer patients throughout the UAE. Two years ago, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher was chosen by the International Ambassador of the