Muscat: The Directorate-General of Health Services of Muscat Governorate (DGHS-Muscat), represented by the Primary Health Care Department and in collaboration with the Directorate-General of Primary Health Care and the Directorate-General for Disease Surveillance and Control (DGDSC) at the Ministry of Health, organised a training workshop in Muscat on Monday on introducing travel medicine service in primary health care at the Directorate building in Darsait.
Dr Saif bin Salim al Abri, DGDSC Director-General; Dr Thamra bint Said al Ghafriyah, DGHS-Muscat Director-General; and senior officials in the Directorate attended the workshop.
The workshop targeted doctors and nurses working in the field of primary health care and service providers in the health institutions affiliated to the Directorate. It also aimed to train the health workers on the principles and priorities of travel medicine and introducing the role that the Directorate will play in providing health services to the traveller.
Furthermore, the training workshop comes to introduce the necessity of introducing and activating the travel medicine clinic in the primary health care institutions because of their positive effects on the health of the traveller, as well as protecting the members of the community from infectious and other diseases. The situation requires the introduction of this service to keep pace with the global health development in the field of primary health care.
Dr Huda bint Anwar al Lawatiyah, Director of Primary Health Care in the Directorate, indicated that the travel medicine clinic is a regulatory mechanism for the traveller, which is concerned with his/her health, as it is considered a branch of preventive medicine.
The traveller is advised to visit the clinic approximately 6 to 8 weeks before his/her travel to receive the required care regarding travel and sickness, take the required immunisations as necessary, and follow the essential preventive and health measures. Upon return from travel, it is preferable to visit the clinic in case of any health symptoms.
The workshop included lectures delivered by lecturers specialised in travel medicine from various health institutions related to this field, focusing on the importance of the availability of a travel medicine clinic.
The workshop also addressed travel medicine health issues related to morbidity and traveller, such as immunisations and the procedures followed in entry requirements to other countries.
The lecturers also focused on the importance of providing travellers with ways to prevent infectious diseases such as malaria, advising them to protect themselves from diseases like staying away from endemic places.
The lecturers emphasised the Ministry of Health's endeavour to develop the travel medicine service through training the health workers, raising community awareness, and preparing the clinic with basic supplies and equipment in line with the Ministry's plans and directions.
The training programme is complemented by targeting approximately 45 doctors and nurses in all health centres affiliated with the Directorate in the travel medicine clinic in batches.
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