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Geographical Locations - Oman
 The WWW Virtual Library: Public Health
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Country Information
- (Statistical) Number of Inhabitants per Doctor: 1,078
- CIA World Factbook : Oman
Organisations and Networks
UN and Multinational
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Non-Government
- Oman Studies Center
This centre was founded in Germany in 1975 as a documentation centre on Oman and the Arabian Gulf. It is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit academic institution which mainly collects information on Oman to assist and coordinate research on Oman and to promote interest in Oman. In line with the Centre's interdisciplinary area studies approach, fields of interest cover a wide range from Oman's history, geography, culture, economy, arts, law, language, natural history and even include more marginal topics such as philately and numismatics
Academic Institutions
National Policy and Related Documents
Reports, Guidelines, and Projects
- Clinical Relevance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria, Oman
Little is known about the clinical relevance of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in the Arabian Peninsula. We assessed the prevalence and studied a random sample of isolates at a reference laboratory in Muscat, Oman. NTM cause disease in this region, and their prevalence has increased. [publication abstract] [Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol.15, No.2, pp.292-294, February 2009]
- Diabetes Mellitus: Management Guidelines for Primary Health Care
"Currently, a substantial proportion of the Ministry’s budget is spent on chronic diseases management including diabetes mellitus and its cardiovascular and renal complications. This puts Oman’s health care system at crossroads. A system which has shown great strides in controlling infectious and childhood illnesses and achieved significant reduction in infant and under-5 mortality, has to change gear and face challenges of the 21st century in combating chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarctions and obesity, and its perpetrators in the form of unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and increase in tobacco use. One of the challenges to this objective was integrating and improving the quality of health care provided to people with diabetes. Towards this end, the Ministry has published its 1st clinical practice guidelines in 1996, to help primary care physicians to provide good standards of diabetes care. This 2nd edition comes not only as a guide for primary care professionals to the basic clinical case management, but also goes at great lengths to illustrate management at every stage, be it a first visit, a follow-up or an annual visit. It also attempts to describe the duties of the health care team looking after people with diabetes. This will help local teams to perform “process evaluation” of a primary centre. The current guidelines also include a detailed list of standards that ought to be present in each primary health centre and to be used to check each health center’s compliance in providing minimal standards of care for people with diabetes." [Ministry of Health, Sultanate of Oman (Second Edition, November 2003)]
- Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enteric Pathogens in Dhahira Region, Oman
Background: We reviewed the monthly laboratory surveillance reports and hospital laboratory database in Dhahira region, Oman. Methods: All patients for whom a stool sample examination request was made from 1st January 2002 to 31st December 2006 (5 years) were included in the study. Antimicrobial resistance pattern was studied for 2 years period. The cultures were done using standard laboratory procedures and antibiotic sensitivity by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: Of the 85,210 stool samples examined, 18% showed positive result for one or more parasitic infection. The most common were E. hystolytica (7.1%), Giardia (7.9%) and E. coli (1.9%). A total of 7,830 cultures were done, among them 11.4% showed positive result for bacterial pathogen. The most common were Salmonella (5.8%) and Shigella species (4.4%). The antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of 265 bacterial pathogens were analyzed. Of the Shigella strains, 71.8% were resistant to trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole (SXT) and 39.4% to ampicillin and 32.4% to tetracycline. Salmonella and E. coli strains were frequently resistant to ampicillin (12.5% and 47.7%, respectively) Conclusion: This study provides important information on the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance pattern of enteric pathogens in Dhahira region population. SXT, ampicillin, and tetracycline are the drugs commonly associated with resistance. [author abstract] [Iranian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 37, No.3, 2008, pp.60-69]
- Genetic Diseases in the Sultanate of Oman: Public Health Perspective
"There has been a significant decrease in the incidence of communicable diseases and in the mortality and morbidity rates of infants and children under 5 years. The national incidence of stillbirths and of congenital anomalies is recorded as 0.9% and 16.9% respectively. The figures are astoundingly high when the incidence of congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities are considered together (73/1000 births). The estimated incidence of children born with congenital and genetic disorders is 7% as compared to 4.4% in Europe. The difference is suggested to be due to the high prevalence of inherited red cell disorders, advanced maternal age, and customary consanguineous marriages." [Genetic Disorders in the Arab World - Oman, Volume 3, 2008]
- Health System Reforms and Community Involvement in Oman
Community involvement requires participation of people in the analysis, decision-making, planning, and program implementation of health services, as well as in health promotion activities. In Oman, community involvement is not well established and in order to sustain and strengthen MOH achievements, the Ministry of Health must develop mechanisms for involving and strengthening community health. There is a political commitment to meaningfully involve communities in the health system, and one of the MOH priorities is increasing community involvement in health care activities. [author abstract] [Journal of Health Sciences Management and Public Health, vo.1, pp.16-29 (2006)]
- Knowledge and perceptions of diabetes in a semi-urban Omani population
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem in the Sultanate of Oman. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and perception of diabetes in a sample of the Omani general population, and the associations between the elements of knowledge and perception, and sociodemographic factors. Methods: The study was carried out in two semi-urban localities. A total of 563 adult residents were interviewed, using a questionnaire specifically designed for the present study. In addition to demographic information, the questionnaire contained questions on knowledge related to diabetes definition, symptoms, risk factors, complications and preventative measures, as well as risk perception for diabetes. Results: Knowledge of diabetes was suboptimal. The percentages of correct responses to questions on diabetes definition, classical symptoms, and complications were 46.5%, 57.0%, and 55.1%, respectively. Only 29.5%, 20.8% and 16.9% identified obesity, physical inactivity and a positive family history, respectively, as risk factors for diabetes. A higher level of education, a higher household income, and the presence of a family history of diabetes were found to be positively associated with more knowledge. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that there is lack of awareness of major risk factors for diabetes mellitus. Level of education is the most significant predictor of knowledge regarding risk factors, complications and the prevention of diabetes. Given that the prevalence of diabetes has increased drastically in Oman over the last decade, health promotion seems essential, along with other means to prevent and control this emerging health problem. [author abstract] [BMC Public Health 2008, 8:249]
- Positive health practices and depressive symptoms among high school adolescents in Oman
Introduction: The study aimed to investigate the association of health practices and depressive symptoms among high school adolescents in a national representative sample of 5,409 students in Oman. Methods: Depressive symptoms were screened in 2004 through the application of the self-report 27-item Child Depression Inventory. Health practices scale comprised a simple sum of five healthy practices, namely: sleeping seven to eight hours at night, having breakfast daily, not eating between meals, not smoking the month prior to the study, and doing physical activities more than once per week apart from attending physical education classes in school. Results: Sequential logistic regression models were run to test for the change in the odds-ratio (OR) of having depressive illness with a one point increase in the healthy practices scale, after adjustment for other risk factors of depression. Health practices remained having a significant protective effect on depression (OR is 0.72, 95 percent confidence interval is 0.64-0.80) even after adjustment to other significant covariates in the last model, such as history of chronic medical or mental illness diagnosed by a doctor, high scoring in chance health locus of control (HLC), low scoring in internal HLC, poor relationships with social contacts, and physical abuse during childhood or adolescence. Conclusion: Findings support the protective effects of positive health practices on adolescents’ depression. [author abstract] [Singapore Medical Journal, 2006; 47(11): 960-966]
- The Mortality and Health Transitions in Oman: Patterns and Processes
"This Report is an attempt to analyze and document Oman's … achievements in health development. It describes the health status of the Omani people in the pre-Renaissance era (before 1970), and the subsequent changes in different health parameters, which took place since then. It also attempts to establish attribution and furnish understanding for the roles of direct health interventions and indirect social and economic factors on the advent of the observed health transition." [A Study Commissioned by the Government of Oman, UNICEF Oman Office and the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, December 2000]
- Tuberculosis suspicion and knowledge among private and public general practitioners: Questionnaire Based Study in Oman
Background: Early detection of smear positive TB cases by smear microscopy requires high level of suspicion of TB among primary care physicians. The objective of this study is to measure TB suspicion and knowledge among private and public sector general practitioners using clinical vignette-based survey and structured questionnaire. Methods: Two questionnaires were distributed to both private and public GPs in Muscat Governorate. One questionnaire assessed demographic information of the respondent and had 10 short clinical vignettes of TB and non-TB cases. The second questionnaire had questions on knowledge of TB, its diagnosis, treatment, follow up and contact screening based on Ministry of Health policy. TB suspicion score and TB Knowledge score were computed and analyzed. Results: A total of 257 GPs participated in the study of which 154 were private GPs. There was a significant difference between private and public GPs in terms of age, sex, duration of practice and nationality. Among all GPs, 37.7% considered TB as one of the three most likely diagnoses in all 5 TB clinical vignettes. Private GPs had statistically significantly lower TB suspicion and TB knowledge scores than public GPs. Conclusion: In Oman, GPs appear to have low suspicion and poor knowledge of TB, particularly private GPs. To strengthen TB control program, there is a need to train GPs on TB identification and adopt a Private Public Mix (PPM) strategy for TB control. [author abstract] [BMC Public Health 2008, 8:177]
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