QATAR – Health officials from Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health as well as the World Health Organization have implemented a comprehensive set of measures to mitigate any potential public health risks at this year’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The move is part of a three-year Sport for Health partnership between the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and WHO, designed to guarantee the security of participants, officials, spectators, and nearby residents throughout the global sporting tournament.

Along with health promotion, the partnership maintains a firm pillar on health security in a bid to ensure participants in major athletic events are safeguarded and kept in good health conditions.

To tackle the potential rise of infectious disease epidemics, the partnership oversees risk assessment, mass collection techniques inside and outside of stadiums, event-based surveillance, and risk communications.

An estimated number of 1.5 million fans are expected to visit Qatar for the major sporting tournament.

Director of the Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department at the MoPH, Dr. Hamad Al Romaihi said, “Mega sports events like the World Cup are attended by significant numbers of people which has the potential to strain public health and response resources of the host nation or community,”

Al Romaihi further highlighted Qatar’s evident progress in the health sector, namely the ten new hospitals and 16 new primary health centers operating since 2010, which drastically boosted the country’s capacity across the system.

He also highlighted “an expanded national Ambulance Service and the opening of the region’s largest Trauma and Emergency Center in 2019.”

“Another important area of development is the workforce, as it is very important to build a strong and highly skilled team of healthcare professionals in the health system to lead the provision of high-quality healthcare services to the population of Qatar,” Al Romaihi said.

Healthcare of highest international standards

Al Romaihi emphasized that all football fans visiting Qatar to attend the football World Cup will receive healthcare services from HMC teams according to the highest international standards.

For her part, the WHO representative in Qatar, Dr. Riana Bouhaqa, expressed her admiration for the successful experiences of Qatar, especially the Arab Cup, which was held in the country.

“The tournament showed us the lessons learned and revealed the possibility of successfully organizing mass gatherings if properly managed.

“It is possible to reduce the risks arising from gatherings by applying specially designed precautionary measures for each event to the venues, participants, and the context in which the event is held, in a general framework to strengthen the surveillance and public health measures followed in the host country,” she said.

She added that the plans are to build on the best practices and recommendations issued by the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021, strengthen health emergency preparedness, and ensure the maintenance of precautionary measures to contain infectious diseases, including COVID-19, in order to keep people safe and healthy.

Because it has become clear over the years the importance of having properly functioning systems that are ready to respond effectively to health emergencies, the World Health Organization (WHO) supports and encourages the use of simulation exercises as part of emergency preparedness planning.

In recent years, the healthcare workforce in Qatar has participated in large-scale tournaments hosted in Doha, including the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019, the World Athletics Championships Qatar 2019, and the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021.

The unique partnership, “Sport for Health” aims to create an action program for the protection and promotion of health in future mass gatherings.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 represents a unique opportunity to develop a new approach to organizing mass sports events, taking into account the lessons learned from the pandemic, and promoting sport and health as a path to recovery.

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