Jeddah: The city of Medina in Saudi Arabia has been accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the healthiest cities in the world.

The WHO team said this after surveying the city and observing that it met all the global standards required to be a healthy city. Medina is believed to be the first healthy city with a population of over 2 million under WHO’s ‘Healthy Cities Program.’

The University of Taiba helped during this survey. The university recorded Medina city’s performance on various parameters on an electronic platform to assess it in the city’s integrated program.

The WHO also recommended that the university provide training to other national city agencies wishing to participate in the Healthy Cities Program.

A committee headed by University President, Dr. Abdul Aziz Asrani, supervised 100 members representing 22 government, civil, charity and volunteer agencies.

Criteria included meeting the targets set by the Madinah Region Strategy Project and the launch of the " Humanizing Cities" program.

According to the WHO, "A healthy city is one that is constantly creating and improving its physical and social environment, and expanding community resources that help people to do all the functions of life and develop their maximum potential."