Qatar’s development plans envisage a state-of-the-art healthcare for all. While Qatar’s healthcare has been lauded for an efficient service delivery, a special feature of the country’s healthcare plans is the care for people with special needs, especially children with developmental delays or disabilities. In fact, Qatar was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is also distinguished to have appropriate laws, policies and institutions in place to fully address the needs of people with special needs and promote their full integration into society.
As part of the continuous development of care facilities for special needs population, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani yesterday inaugurated HMC’s new Al Maha Pediatric Specialized Care Center at Al Wakra Hospital. The new centre will offer expert long-term and acute care for children with special needs. This first-of-its-kind facility in the region is designed to create a home-like environment aimed at promoting a better quality of life for children with long-term care needs. The facility encompasses gardens, recreational facilities and family areas. The centre has received a European Healthcare Design Award and won a World Architecture Award. It is a family-focused hospital design that addresses the multiple and often complex needs of special needs children and their families. The center engages pediatric patients in fun activities, making them feel at home, and provides all medical, diagnostic and therapy services to pediatric patients under one roof. The center also provides aquatic therapy offered in a state-of-the-art multi-level hydrotherapy pool, music and art therapy, virtual reality treatment, in addition to other related services.
While transferring patients from other facilities to the new centre, in some cases, the same care teams transferred over to the new facility along with their patients, contributing to comforts and confidence of the children and their families. Health authorities deserve special praise for this.
Qatar is also a leading country in research, development and innovation for the benefit of people with disabilities. Hamad Bin Khalifa University is conducting a pioneering research on innovations such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the context of learning and attention of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Qatar has made a lot of progress over the years in providing care for people with special needs, enabling them to live healthy and independent lives within their communities.
