Very inspiring to attend the first day of the 24th MedHealth Annual Forum in Abu Dhabi. In collaboration with Department of Health Abu Dhabi and the Arab Hospital Federation, Abu Dhabi hosted many healthcare providers from the Arab World. With topics such as prevention, mental health, sustainable healthcare, the impact of climate change on healthcare, access and affordability and many more, it was very interesting to hear different perspectives from stakeholders in the UAE, Lebanon and Egypt.

New to me was how built environment can play a crucial role in the reduction of CO2 emissions produced by hospitals and healthcare, which is apparently 4-5% of the total emissions (en par with the aviation and shipping industry). Ivars Krasinskis AIA held a passionate plea (with an onpoint delivery) how to build differently and how to think about sustainability from the very first design drafts. I am not doing his plea any justice with such a short summary so if you are interested, I would recommend to hear him tell the story.

To conclude this day, I would like to end with words from dr Omniyat Al Hajeri: “There is no health without mental health. And to achieve that we have to build our communities and invest in our people.”