MUSCAT: The World Health Organization (WHO) country offices in Yemen and Oman, in a recent twinning project, delivered the fundamentals of a critical care support course for 24 intensive care unit doctors working in public hospitals in Yemen. 

This was the result of a fruitful inter-regional collaboration. These offices are linked to the Omani Medical Specialty Board to the University of Aden Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Through this project, professionals in Yemen were able to learn from the experiences of a top medical organisation in the area in order to improve educational opportunities and best practises.

The Omani Medical Specialty Board provided 24 doctors who had just finished a nine-week preparatory programme in critical care skills, a two-day virtual training.

WHO Representative to Oman Dr Jean Jabbour highlighted the value of such endeavors in the Region stating, “It is our duty as a leading health agency to sustain post-conflict countries in rebuilding and strengthening their health systems while following WHO’s 6 health systems building blocks framework – one of which, is workforce capacity-building.”

WHO Representative to Yemen, Dr Adham Rashad Ismail Abdel Moneim further explained, “Activities like this twinning project provide practical examples of how we can bridge the humanitarian-development nexus, leveraging south-south cooperation, to build health system resilience and be better prepared for emergencies.” 

With the initial cohort’s success, more training is being planned to support the project’s goals of reducing medical error rates and enhancing hospital care quality.

In addition to a brain drain of highly qualified medical professionals to the commercial sector and abroad, Yemen is experiencing rising demand for critical care and ICU services.

With assistance from the World Bank and other partners, WHO has been offering brief case management courses to more than 2000 healthcare professionals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.