INFORMA Life Sciences Exhibitions, organizers of the annual Arab Health Exhibition and Congress, has introduced a new category to the upcoming Arab Health Innovation & Achievement Awards – The Sustainable Hospital Award. The event will also include eight other award categories including Excellence in Laboratory, Excellence in Imaging and Diagnostics, Excellence in Surgery Services, Excellence in Patient Centered Care, Cleveland Clinic Young Clinician, Young Surgeon of the Year, Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City Award for Excellence in Rehabilitation Care, and Outstanding Contribution of an Individual to the Middle East Healthcare Industry. To enter the awards, professionals involved in the healthcare industry in the Middle East should nominate individuals or organizations that deserve recognition in line with these categories. Nominations can be submitted via the website (www.arabhealthonline.com) and will close on Nov. 15, 2012. The 2013 Arab Health Awards winners will be announced on Jan. 29, 2013 at a Gala awards dinner in Dubai. In today's world, the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability are gaining increasing popularity among companies and the general public. In the healthcare sector, several hospitals have started to formulate their strategies inspired by the CSR pillars and the triple-bottom-lines. Despites the existence of different forums and organizations that are trying to foster the culture of sustainability and transparency by announcing CSR awards, those awards are not specific to the healthcare sector. Moreover, others such as the Hospital Build Awards that have introduced the concept of sustainability in their award categories for hospitals were focusing on specific projects (designs, environment) rather than the full CSR dimensions. The main difference between Arab Health's Sustainable Hospital Award and other similar awards is that it focuses on the responsible practice based on the CSR concept in general. The hospital that wins this award should clearly show its commitment to the four pillars of sustainability - workforce/workplace, patients, environment and community. “I believed that the newly introduced award category for sustainable hospitals by the Arab Health team this year is an excellent initiative," said Dr. Mazen Fakeeh, president, Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, who are headline sponsors of the 2013 Arab health Awards. “I expect this initiative to help foster the culture of sustainability in the healthcare sector and will help hospitals improve their environmental and social performances on a competitive basis." Adopting CSR initiatives in a hospital's daily practice will result in better understanding from the community about the challenges that this sector faces. CSR will also help the healthcare sector elaborate on social issues that could serve to improve their image and enhance stakeholder engagement by making their performance indicators available to public. – SG
