Muscat: As the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the emergency of the Covid-19 pandemic, some Omani doctors felt that many lessons were learned from the Corona pandemic, which killed more than 20 million people in the world.
Dr. Zaid bin al Khattab al Hinai, Assistant Professor and Consultant of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University, said, "First, we must praise the strength of the health system in the Sultanate of Oman. Though our cases were high, transparency helped in passing messages to the community."
The Ministry of Health succeeded in providing the latest medicines and treatments whenever they are available on a large scale, and this confirms the feasibility of large investments in the health system and also shows the importance of expanding and increasing investment in the health system by the government.
He stressed the need to develop the pharmaceutical industries and medical technology at the local level. "The country's ability to develop drugs and medical devices and manufacture them locally has become an important necessity so that we are not hostage to external factors in times of crisis."
He said the pandemic saw wonderful examples of devotion and dedication to work by Omani and expatriate doctors, nurses, and technicians.
"We must increase investment in training Omani doctors at the local level and through scholarships abroad so that we can meet all the health needs of the Sultanate of Oman through training and qualification."
He said that the pandemic lasted three years, but the difficult period in the Sultanate of Oman was limited to a year and a half, during which we saw unprecedentedly large numbers of acute pneumonia, which constituted a societal crisis, and required precautionary measures to be taken to avoid and reduce infections as much as possible.
He pointed out that this difficult period ended at the end of the summer of 2021 with the completion of the immunization campaign and the acquisition of immunity in society on a large scale.
He stated that the total number of deaths in the Sultanate of Oman was around 5,000 and the precautionary measures applied by citizens and residents and the immunization campaign succeeded in avoiding more fatalities.
Dr. Zakaria bin Yahya al Balushi, a consultant for infections and infectious diseases at the Royal Hospital, said that the Corona pandemic was a difficult, strange, and very great experience as we were never expected to live in a pandemic of this level."
He pointed out that one of the most important lessons learned from the pandemic is the emphasis on the importance of public health and disease prevention, as it has become clear that public health is essential to maintaining economic and social stability in all fields, pointing out that the pandemic has shown us the need to rely on technology.
Dr. Reda bin Isa al Lawati, an internal diseases specialist at the Royal Hospital, said the importance of arming ourselves with science and knowledge in facing infectious diseases or any other pandemic that we may be exposed to later, and this was evident when scientists quickly began to find suitable vaccines to confront Covid 19 and in record time.
He reviewed his experience in the field hospital, which carried many memories and events, including cases of death of patients who were admitted to the hospital for long periods, or when the field hospital was unable to receive a patient from another health institution due to the and the lack of rooms.
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