Khabar Khair (Only Good News)

As part of a fruitful inter-regional collaboration, the World Health Organization (WHO) country offices in Yemen and Oman linked the Omani Medical Specialty Board to the University of Aden Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in a recent twinning project that delivered the fundamentals of a critical care support course for 24 intensive care unit doctors working in public hospitals in Yemen. 

Through this project, the professional experiences of a leading medical body in the Region were shared with experts in Yemen towards expanding educational offerings and best practices. The Omani Medical Specialty Board provided a 2-day training virtually to 24 physicians, who had recently completed a 9-week preparatory programme in critical care skills. 

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 success of this first cohort, additional training is in the pipeline to reinforce the project’s outcomes towards lowering rates of medical errors and improving the quality of care in hospitals. 

Yemen faces increasing demands for critical care and ICU services amid a brain drain to the private sector and abroad of specialized health workers in these areas. WHO has been providing short courses in case management targeting more than 2000 health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, with support from the World Bank and other partners.