Major healthcare awards scheduled for 2005

To be held during Arab Health 2005, the region's leading healthcare exhibition and congress, commentators anticipate strong competition for many of the awards, particularly in the key categories of best hospital accreditation initiative and best patient satisfaction programme.

Given the ongoing expansion of the healthcare sector in the Middle East, and the rising demand for increasingly sophisticated services, the 2005 awards are being viewed as an important milestone for the region's medical community.

The awards will be organized in co-operation with independent health services research agency ECRI, who will manage the evaluation and judging process of the Awards. The awards will take place on the 14th February 2005 at a Gala dinner at the Arab Health exhibition and conference.

Commenting on the significance of the award, John Hassett, Exhibition Director for Arab Health, said "Arab Health celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2005, and the Awards provide an ideal way of recognizing the region's medical specialists for the major contribution they make to the lives of the people of the Middle East."

"ECRI has demonstrated their commitment to advancing the quality of healthcare around the world, and we would like to thank them for their contribution to the awards," added Hassett.

The regional significance of the event is reflected in the number of countries that have accepted invitations to the event, including Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, U.A.E. and Yemen.
This year, the committee will launch several new categories of competition, to complement the existing awards. These cover the following new fields in the healthcare industry, including best healthcare educational program and best patient safety program.

Special Award for Iraq healthcare initiatives
Special attention will be given to the organizations and individuals involved in rebuilding the Iraqi healthcare system. For 2005, the committee has added a new award for the organization that provided the best achieved relief program to Iraq. The category will be called Best Humanitarian Healthcare Initiative for Iraq.

Malek El Husseini, Director, Middle East for ECRI, said "Our objective is to reward individual, groups and organizations for their contribution to improving the healthcare system in the region."

"The 2005 Arab Health Awards will be a major event for the healthcare industry in the region, recognizing the significant achievements of organizations and individuals across the Middle East. We would encourage companies that feel they have made a strong contribution to submit their entry, in order to receive the acclamation they deserve," concluded Hassett.