OMAN: Increased attention to family medicine urged

. MUSCAT, Oman / Omanet.om / January 21, 2009 Dr Ali bin Saud al Bimani, Vice-Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University, said that increased attention to family medicine would help in reducing the cost of advanced medical care in the health system. He was addressing the participants of the 1st International Conference of Family Medicine during its opening ceremony held at SQU on Sunday. The conference is organised by the SQU College of Medicine & Health Sciences in collaboration with WHO, Wonca (International Organisation of Family Doctors), Ministry of Health, Oman Famco Society and the GCC Health Ministers Council. The opening ceremony was held under the auspices of Dr Mubarak bin Saleh al Khadhouri, Personal Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan. Dr Ali al Bimani said that more specialities introduced with the aim of improving the standards of primary healthcare would reduce the number of people attending hospitals for secondary care and save the cost of medical care. “The degree of success of the health system is directly related to the good practice and quality of primary healthcare. The indicators of primary care are an important measure of development and prosperity of a country. Family Medicine is the heart and soul of primary healthcare, he added. In his address, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saidi, Under-Secretary for Health Affairs in the Ministry of Health, revealed that the plan of the ministry is to provide one health centre for every 10,000 citizens and one polyclinic for every 20,000 persons. Dr Mohammed al Shafaee, chairperson of the conference and Head of the Family Medicine and Public Health Department at SQU, said theme of this conference, Best Care for All, is a true reflection of the role of a family physician. The family doctor provides healthcare for all the family members comprehensively and continuously. He pointed out that the number of family doctors in the Sultanate is very low taking into consideration the needs of the country and because of this, family medicine can be classified as a rare speciality. In her address, Dr Jihane Tawilah, WHO Representative, said that Oman is a success story for primary healthcare. “The Sultanate has one of the fastest declines in under-five mortality. This decline and other positive health indicators, like life expectancy and immunisation rates, are due to the government’s consistent and sustained investment in primary health services over time to ensure universal access to healthcare,” she added. Prof David Haslam, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, UK, delivered the keynote address on the topic “how investing in primary healthcare could save lives and money”. Prof Haslam established that high quality care is the most important thing in primary healthcare. The four day conference would cover various topics including state-of-the-art management of common clinical problems, mental health, sexual health, ageing and care of the elderly, premarital counselling, cancer and prevention, leadership in family medicine, research mission of family medicine, and so on. Copyright © 2002 Ministry of Information, Oman.