On January 30, 2024, The Ministry of Public Health held a national meeting to evaluate the one-year progress of the National Health Strategy: Vision 2030. The strategy aims to address the challenges and acutes crises affecting the healthcare sector, build the capacities of the sector, and bring about a qualitative shift in the management of service delivery. The meeting included a detailed presentation on the most significant achievements, covering 88 strategic objectives across multiple focus areas, such as participatory governance, medication management, primary healthcare, human resources capacity building, and digital health technologies.

The Minister of Public Health, H.E. Dr. Firas Abiad, expressed a commitment to avoiding the usual fate of unimplemented strategies through regular transparent reporting and underscoring the significance of the reforms implemented, the incremental nature of the progress, and the crucial role of collaboration between the Ministry, the donors, and the non-governmental sectors in achieving more positive strides. Minister Abiad concluded by saying, “The message that I would like to send after a year of implementing the National Health Strategy: Vision 2030 is a message of hope that positive change is possible with concerted efforts. Our experience can serve as an example for other countries going through harsh and difficult circumstances, in the region.”

The national meeting also included a panel discussion on the achievements of the Ministry and its collaborators in the first year since the launch of the national strategy. The panel, moderated by Dr. Joyce Haddad, Director of Health Prevention at the Ministry of Public Health, includes the Chairperson of the Public Health Department, Dr. Myriam Mrad, as well as Ms. Farah Asfahani (World Bank), Mr. Serop Ohanian (Karagheusian Center), Mr. Kyaw Aung (UNICEF), Ms. Waheeda Ghalayini, (Rafik Hariri University Hospital), and Professor Salim Adib (American University of Beirut). Dr. Mrad’s intervention emphasized the instrumental role of collaboration between academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the Ministry of Public Health, citing the Ministry’s support for the GEOHealth Hub for Climate Change and Health in the MENA and their support of the National Lead Poisoning Prevention Campaign as prime examples. Additionally, Dr. Mrad underscored the importance of acknowledging the role of the environment, particularly air pollution, in discussions about morbidity and mortality in Lebanon, reflecting on her own academic research and public health professional experience in this focus area.





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