Manama: The Ministry of Health participated in the final evaluation of several shopping centres in the Kingdom under the Healthy Mall project for shopping malls and commercial complexes. This initiative was launched by the Healthy Cities Committee of the Secretariat-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Gulf Health Council to continue to promote health within community environments and encourage healthy lifestyles.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the Ministry of Health emphasised that its participation aligns with its ongoing support for joint Gulf efforts to strengthen public health, in harmony with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the unified health vision of the GCC states. The evaluation covered those malls that applied to be part of the project in 2025, namely: City Centre Bahrain, The Avenues Bahrain, and Enma Mall. The assessment committee was chaired by Dr Fatima Al-Mutawa, Head of the Programmes Section in the Health Promotion Directorate, accompanied by accredited evaluators from the Ministries of Health of the GCC countries.
The Ministry further clarified that the project is founded on six principal pillars: healthy lifestyles, awareness-raising, community partnership, hygiene and the environment, security and safety, and quality of community services. It is being implemented through a harmonised mechanism that includes field visits to measure the extent to which the participating malls adhere to the approved standards.