Ministry of Health and Leading Pharmaceutical company Explore Avenues for Greater Collaboration
Discussion between UAE Minister of Health and Vice President, Institutional and Professional Relations, Sanofi-aventis, reaches favourable conclusion
Dubai: His Excellency Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami, UAE Minister of Health today received a high-level delegation from Sanofi-aventis, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. The delegation was headed by Georges Ayache, Vice president Institutional and Professional relations, Sanofi-aventis, Jean-Marc Voissier, General Manager, Sanofi-aventis Gulf and Ayman Mokhtar, Marketing Director, Sanofi-aventis Gulf. During the meeting the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Sanofi-aventis explored numerous opportunities seeking to strengthen their collaboration with one another.
H.E. Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami said that the approval of the new pharmacy law by the cabinet of ministers can be considered as strong support towards the development of healthcare in the United Arab Emirates. He described the law as one that sets down rules and regulations to guarantee the availability of different medicines of the highest international quality standards. It will also regulate the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and different regulatory authorities working in the field of pharmacy and medicine, in the nation.
Both parties specifically looked into the latest research and findings in the treatment of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Sanofi-aventis pledged to continue in its efforts to proactively combat the threat of counterfeit drugs which are a threat to society. The company also expressed its plans to step up the ‘Your Health Matters’ campaign that was launched last year.
The campaign was launched in association with the World Health Organization, the Gulf Heart Association and the Emirates Cardiac Society and aims to raise awareness and educate residents in the Gulf about the dangers of increased waist circumference and associated cardiometabolic risk factors and their link to cardiovascular disease. The company has carried out a number of public health awareness activities in the UAE in the last year including screenings of the general public for diabetes, hypertension and increased abdominal obesity at major malls across the UAE.
Sanofi-aventis proposed a long-standing partnership with the MOH whereby the company would share its international expertise in various medical areas and assist with the development of nationwide medical education programs, initiation of disease registries and medical research.
“The Ministry of Health constantly strives to provide the highest quality medical services to residents across the UAE, to offer world-class training to healthcare professionals and to benefit from the local and international experience and expertise of multinational companies in the medical field,” said H.E. Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami. “We are especially keen to gain from the findings of pharmaceutical companies. The UAE has always been at the forefront as it seeks to implement the latest medical technology for the benefit of its residents. This meeting comes as a natural expression of our interest.”
“We are extremely pleased with the outcome of our meeting today,” said Georges Ayache, Vice president Institutional and Professional relations, Sanofi Aventis. “We have explored a number of possibilities for future collaboration seeking to provide the best possible medical services to residents of the UAE. Sanofi-aventis will offer all its available resources to the MOH as we strive to reach this common goal.”
“Sanofi-aventis is keen to influence the well-being of the regional communities it serves. This is a driving factor behind every public health awareness initiative we undertake as we seek to better educate the general public about diabetes and cardiometabolic risk factors which present key challenges to the healthcare system,” said Jean-Marc Voissier, General Manager, Sanofi-aventis Gulf.
“We at Sanofi-aventis have always shown strong commitment towards improving healthcare in the UAE. We use the findings of our extensive research and implement the latest technology in the manufacture of our drugs. Safety is our utmost concern and we strive to provide patients with high-quality and trustworthy products. These are common goals that we share with the Ministry of Health as we look into improving medical facilities in the UAE,” Voissier added.
In UAE, Sanofi-aventis is a dynamic, rapidly growing organization that is working to meet the needs of healthcare professionals and their patients.
Sanofi-aventis has a regional office based in Dubai to cover 5 Gulf countries (UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) and Yemen.
