Minister of Public Health H E Mansour bin Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud (second left) and other officials at the second forum of Naufar Centre.
Doha, Qatar: The Second Forum of Naufar, focusing on the “Precision Medicine Approach in Treating Substance Use Disorders,” concluded yesterday.
The Minister of Public Health H E Mansour bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud officially inaugurated the forum on Sunday at Naufar. The opening ceremony was attended by a distinguished assembly of senior officials, leading experts in the healthcare sector, and representatives from academic bodies and international organisations.
This two-day event builds upon the significant success of its inaugural iteration in the preceding year, which established new benchmarks for scholarly discourse and collaborative efforts within the domains of addiction treatment and precision medicine.
In his keynote address, Prof Mohammed Ghanem Al-Ali Al-Maadheed, Chair of the Organising Committee for the symposium and Director General of Naufar, extended a formal welcome to the assembled participants. He underscored the remarkable level of engagement, noting the venue’s full occupancy of 250 attendees, complemented by an extensive virtual presence exceeding 8,000 online participants.
During his address, Dr. Al-Maadheed also acknowledged the significant support extended to Naufar Centre by the Ministry of Public Health and prominent national scientific institutions in its ongoing efforts to implement a precision medicine framework.
Dr. Al-Maadheed emphasised the critical importance of building upon prior accomplishments, stating, “The continued iteration of this scientific symposium, following the considerable success of its inaugural event, reflects Naufar’s unwavering commitment to its leading role in the advancement of specialised healthcare for the treatment of substance misuse disorders. We firmly believe that precision medicine represents a pivotal advancement in therapeutic approaches, and we are dedicated through this symposium to fostering robust collaboration and the exchange of in-depth expertise to identify innovative and efficacious solutions that effectively address the evolving needs of both patients and the broader community.”
Furthermore, he asserted that “precision medicine holds substantial significance in the treatment of addiction,” encouraging all attendees to leverage the insights and outcomes of the conference.
This year’s programme featured 22 renowned speakers from Qatar and around the world, including Professor Amine Benyamina (President, French Federation of Addictology), who addressed the urgent need for precision medicine in addiction care; Professor Vidya Mohamed-Ali (University College London), who explored the gut-brain axis in SUD treatment; Professor Alexander Baldacchio (University of St Andrews), who presented on the role of innovative technology in reducing drug-related fatalities; Professor Fares Alharbi (King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Saudi Arabia), who discussed the complexities of polysubstance abuse in the Middle East; and Dr. Nathalie Rieser (University of Zurich), who shared insights on psilocybin for relapse prevention.
The symposium’s sessions covered a comprehensive range of critical topics, including the impact of genomics and pharmacogenetics in tailoring addiction treatment to individual patient profiles, advances in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and therapies targeting the gut-brain axis, addressing challenges such as polysubstance abuse, psychiatric comorbidities, and gaming disorder, and focused sessions on mental health and precision physiotherapy for athletes with SUDs.
