Giant strides in healthcare

Before 1970, Oman had only two hospitals and one out of every five children died before the age of five years while communicable diseases such as malaria were very common and the life expectancy was 49.3 years. In 1970, when His Majesty Sultan Qaboos ascended to the throne, he paid a special attention to the health sector.

“His Majesty Sultan Qaboos believed in education and a special focus was paid to national human resources development for the healthcare system. Many educational institutions were inaugurated for preparing national healthcare professionals”, says Dr Manal Abdul Majeed al Zadjali, Dean of the Higher Institute of Health Specialties, Ministry of Health.

The following years witnessed various institutes being opened around the country to train nurses to serve their own people. In 2001, Oman Specialised Nursing Institute was inaugurated. Later it was upgraded to train nurses as well as paramedical professionals.

“Under His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, Oman’s healthcare services witnessed a considerable evolution which can be pointed to as a ‘golden era,” says Dr Waleed al Rajhi, Acting Dean, Deanship of Planning and Quality Management, Nizwa University.

For Professor Nicholas Woodhouse, who arrived in Muscat in 1991 as Professor of Medicine at SQU, and was honoured to join a team of international doctors looking after His Majesty’s mother, it was a paradigm shift.

“The years my wife and I spent travelling in Oman by land and sea have been a rich and rewarding experience for us both. We are grateful to Sultan Qaboos and the Omani people for the mammoth strides that the country has achieved in the past decades.”

In 2011, Professor Nicholas Woodhouse was awarded an OBE for his service to medicine in the Middle East and also honoured to be granted Omani citizenship.

“I once read a quote from John Maxwell defining leadership as “a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” When thinking about this, only one man came to my mind at that time was the Late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.

He was a visionary leader who took us to the right path and guided us throughout his life to be the best in this world”, adds Dr Manal.

Today, Oman’s infant mortality rate has gone down to 9.5/10,000 and the life expectancy went up to 76.6 years.

Further, there are Omani doctors and nurses who are serving in healthcare institutions around the country.

Oman’s exemplary efforts in the fight against communicable diseases were well appreciated by the World Health Organization and its primary healthcare system by the United Nations.

Oman Vision 2040 provides a roadmap for the healthcare system.

All this was not possible without the support of the compassionate leadership of the beloved late HM who continued to lead his people by example and he fulfilled every promise he made to his people, his country and his region.