health
SOUND VITAL SIGNS Recognition of the high standards of Oman’s healthcare delivery systems has come from no less a body than the United Nations
T
he recent conferment of a prestigious international award on the Ministry of Health offers a measure of the superior standards governing the delivery of public healthcare services in the Sultanate. With UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in attendance, the United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) was presented to high officials from the Sultanate at a ceremony held in Geneva and attended by world figures. Oman was cited for its groundbreaking ‘Reducing Childhood Mortality Rate’ initiative that enhances the quality of mother and child health care. It was a proud moment for Oman and a resounding endorsement of the Health Ministry’s efforts to provide international-class healthcare services in the Sultanate. Indeed, the Sultanate has come a long way over the past 40 years of its modern development, exemplified by the dramatic strides it has made in the healthcare sector. Oman has been successful in reducing both the maternal mortality rate in childbirth from 22 (per 100,000 live births) in 1995 to 13.4 in 2009, and the Infant Mortality Rate of 20 (per 1,000 live births) in 1995 to 9.6 in 2009. This has been attributed to comprehensive healthcare services for mother and child. These extraordinary achievements are a reflection of the overall economic and social development of the country, and more so, the result of the ministry’s successes in combating a host of deadly infectious diseases. The crude death rate is currently at a low of 3.0 per 1000 population, while life expectancy at birth is at a high of 70 years for men and 75.7 years for women, up from an average of 49 years in 1970. A robust Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) initiated in 1981 was the initial spearhead with which the Ministry confronted a host of deadly communicable diseases. This effort was augmented by the establishment of a Disease Surveillance and Control System in 1987, followed by the Malaria Eradication Programme in 1991. On its heels came a raft of other health pogrammes targeted at scourges such as tuberculosis, and diarrheal and acute respiratory infections in children. These initiatives have paid off handsomely over the year and, as a result, malaria cases declined from a high over 30,000 cases in the early 1990s to 898 cases in 2009. Not a single case of poliomyelitis or diphtheria has been recorded since 1993 and 1992 respectively. Only one solitary case of neonatal tetanus was recorded since 1991, while sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were dramatically reduced as well. The Incidence of AIDS/HIV does not exceed 5.8 per 100,000 of the population, while deaths from opportunistic diseases are at a mere 2 per cent. Having successfully rolled back a number of lethal communicable afflictions, the Health Ministry’s focus has since shifted to non-communicable and lifestyle diseases that currently account for roughly 75 per cent of all deaths reported at hospitals. Alarmingly, 40 per cent of hospital in-patients and 55 per cent of outpatients suffer from chronic diseases. Priority concerns are diabetes, kidney disease, genetic conditions, and of course, the most disconcerting of all – trauma cases linked to traffic accidents.
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