HE Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al- Kuwari, WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) secretary general HE Hassan al-Thawadi and WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed al-Mandhari, attended the meeting.
The partners have agreed on a range of measures to be implemented at this year’s World Cup to protect health and take lessons learned from the tournament to share with future mega sporting events. The aim is to protect the health of all those involved in the 2022 World Cup. It will be a healthy and safe event from Covid-19 prevention steps to healthy menu options.
The World Cup will be used as a platform to promote healthy lifestyles. It will inspire millions globally to play football and be more active with a global campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of physical activity. Qatar has signed a three-year partnership with WHO to improve healthcare access and promote healthy lifestyles across the country.
The event will also be used for creating a blueprint to protect and promote health at future mass gatherings. It represents a unique opportunity to develop a new approach to organising mega sports events factoring-in lessons learnt from the pandemic and reinforcing sports and health as a pathway for recovery.
Dr al-Kuwari, who is also the chair of the steering committee said: " Qatar is proud to be the first country from the Middle East to host the FIFA World Cup. Our overall goal is not just to hold a successful sporting event, but to also show how football and sports in general can be drivers of better health for all people. This is why we are working so closely with WHO, FIFA and SC.”
At the meeting, the leaders agreed on a range of actions to be taken for the World Cup and future events. One of them is to build on actions taken at the FIFA Arab Cup in 2021, strengthen health emergency preparedness and ensure maintenance of precautionary measures for containing infectious diseases to keep people safe and healthy.
Other activities are to: Provide healthy food options inside stadiums and fan zones; enhance tobacco prevention in stadiums, fan zones and other areas; start collaborative agreements with countries to benchmark legacy building activities and exchange lessons with the International Olympic Committee for Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026.
“WHO is committed to working with Qatar and FIFA to leverage the global power of football to help people lead the healthiest lives possible,” explained, Dr Ghebreyesus. “This partnership will help to make the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 a role model for healthy sporting events.”
“We put our efforts together through this innovative partnership to promote health in a different way, using the power of football to communicate certain messages. We have been working together on different awareness campaigns and what better platform than the FIFA World Cup for passing the ‘Health for All’ message,” observed, Infantino.
As part of the agreement, two SC legacy programmes – Generation Amazing and B4Development will provide operational and technical collaboration on a range of projects.
Al-Thawadi, highlighted: “As FIFA World Cup hosts, Qatar has worked to underscore the importance of leaving sustainable and transformative social legacies that improve lives – in Qatar, within our region and around the world. This partnership is critical for us as we prepare for hosting the world in the context of Covid-19. We’re engaging in every effort along with local and international partners to ensure a healthy and safe FIFA World Cup.”
“WHO looks forward to working closely with Qatar in the months ahead to use the platform that sporting events offer to bring people together and foster solidarity, which is the core of our regional vision of 'Health for all by all: a call for solidarity and action',” remarked, Dr al-Mandhari.
”We want to leave a legacy that touches both sport and health. This will be a great health initiative and can be followed by other countries that host such leading sports events,” Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of public health, MoPH added. Former football international, Didier Drogba was also present on the occasion.