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The Gulf Health Council was established in 1976 under the guidance of the Council of Ministers. It is organizationally linked to the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, but It enjoys legal, financial and administrative independence, and the authority and capability to achieve all its objectives. Its membership is limited to GCC Member States, and also includes Yemen, which joined the Gulf Health Council in 2003.

Vision:

The Council is dedicated to achieving sustainable and good health for all GCC citizens.

Mission:

To promote and improve the health sector for all Member States. This is achieved by providing proactive initiatives and responding to regional and global health challenges.

Objectives:

·         Cooperation and coordination in the field of preventive, curative and rehabilitative health among Member States.

·         Spread health awareness of among GCC Member States citizens within the context of unique environmental conditions, customs, and social and Islamic traditions.

·                  Identify relevant health and scientific concepts & issues, and work towards unification and prioritization & adoption and implementation of joint programs across GCC Member States.

·         Utilization of international experiences and strengthening collaboration with Arab, regional and international organizations working in the health field.

·         Ensure that all Member States benefit from current health care practices and strategies, and support successful medical experiments in GCC Member States.

·                  Via the GCC Central Drug Registration Program for pharmaceutical companies, provide safe, effective and high-quality medicine through a unified procurement program for medicines and medical equipment and pricing of its products.

·         Raise the capability of national medical staff in Member States.

·         Conduction of joint health research among Member States.

Shared programs

In addition to major programs such as unified drug procurement , central registration, standardization of pricing, and expatriate labor examinations, the Gulf Health Council has several ongoing joint technical programs in GCC countries under the supervision of specialized technical advisory committees in such areas as family health, primary health care, quality, environmental sanitation, evidence-based health care, health planning, health systems performance development, patient safety, non-communicable disease control, health orientation of life, control of infectious and epidemic diseases, occupational health and safety, elder care, tobacco control and health research.

Seminars and conferences

The Gulf Health Council works towards qualification and development of  working groups across Member States, and conduct joint health research in order to achieve the highest health and safety standards for citizens of the GCC States. This is achieved through organization and participation in scientific seminars, conferences and training courses.