Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Secretariat-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, is hosting a three-day 11th Meeting of the GCC Committee responsible to follow up the implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005).
The committee conducts scheduled field visits at airports and entry points at gulf countries in coordination with the authorities concerned in each country and does assessment of the basic capacities and the requirements of health regulations related to prevention, early warning and public health emergency response as per the World Health Organization checklist.
The meeting commenced on Tuesday at the Muscat International Airport. GCC Committee members joined the ‘Implementation of the International Health Regulations and the Gulf Centre for Communicable Diseases Control in Gulf Health Council’. Representatives from MoH, Civil Aviation Authority, Royal Oman Police and Oman Airports attended the meeting.
The opening session was inaugurated by a speech of Dr Saif al Abri, MoH’s Acting Under-Secretary for Health Affairs and Director-General of Disease Surveillance and Control, where he highlighted the preparedness and response efforts exerted by the country during Covid-19 pandemic, commending meanwhile the collaborative work observed from both the health sector and civil aviation sector in this regard.
Dr Al Abri called upon fostering joint actions among gulf countries and exchanging expertise and success stories.
The meeting further identified prominent pillars in the airport that will be evaluated according to WHO checklist.
The meeting will include a workshop on the field visit that aims at measuring the compliance of the followed health procedures with the International Health Regulations (2005) specified as per the WHO checklist and the Global Civil Aviation (ICAO) as well identifying strengths and weakness points.
On the third day, specialists from the Civil Aviation Authority will review the Sultanate of Oman's experience in ensuring continuity of aviation operations during Covid-19 in accordance with the public health requirements and the taken precautionary actions.
Furthermore, a visit to the National Mutli Hazard Early Warning Centre will be carried out to identify the Centre’s specialisations, roles and duties in dealing with multi hazards.
At the end of the meeting, GCC Committee members will come up with recommendations that are to be submitted to the Gulf Health Ministers for direction and action.
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