The Most Important Achievements of the Council

Most Important Achievements of the Council

   The Council realized a lot of achievements through the various programmes which are seventy seven (77) in total, most of them are still on-going and some ended.  These programmes are considered the outcome of the studies made by the technical committees, working groups, symposia, workshops and scientific conferences organized by the Council in that period.

   Space may not allow to elaborate on these programmes, but it is sufficient to mention that they cover various medical fields: preventive, curative and rehabilitative.  On the other hand, these programmes are dealing with issues such as health services, in addition to coping up with the recent advances in the medical fields.

   The main objectives of the Council are coordinating health  policies and health programmes in the member countries.  It also provides a practical forum for active exchange of views among policy makers and researchers in the region.  This is implemented through the exchange of knowledge, techniques, opinions and information among policy makers, decision makers, expert personnel, medical staff, and among analysts dealing with the utilization and integration of population data into social , health, sanitary demographic developmentary and reform plans.   

    The following papers give a brief description of some of the achievements of HMC/GCC  in some closely integrated activities in the fields of  preventive, curative, rehabilitation medicine and related health services,  such as information, education and training,  planning and research;  and to give examples of these achievements on the above mentioned sections.  IN THIS REGARDS I WOULD LIKE TO BRIEF THE FOLLOWING ACHIEVEMENTS:  

Coordination of  health services among the member states

This function ranks top in the Council’s achievements.  This is reflected on the various health rates and indicators.  For instance, life expectancy increased in the last two decades above seventy one years and infant mortality rate declined to 8.5 - 19 per1000 live births.  Vaccination coverage with basic vaccines increased to even more than the target rate set by the WHO and the UNICEF at the end of the nineties.  Diseases like poliomyelitis have disappeared (the last polio case   in the region was in 1993). 

 Moreover, there was dramatic drop of the infection rates from other infectious diseases in the Gulf States.  Initiatives in the Gulf States for elimination of neonatal tetanus, diphtheria and leprosy, were made.  The member states also have reached the objective of reducing the measles morbidity rates by 90% and the death resulting by 95%.

 It is worthy noting that Tuberculosis Elimination Initiative which was launched in the member states of the council in 1996 is considered the first of its type in the world, and it aims at reducing the rates of positivist to 5 or less per one thousand sputum specimens by the year 2010.

 Immunization against Hepatitis B, German measles and mumps has become part and parcel of the national immunization programmes for children vaccination.  Furthermore Haemophilus influenza vaccine (Haemophilis influenzae B)  was  implemented in all GCC countries.   

As regards the health programmes

a.  Coordinating the efforts among the Member States for combating the communicable diseases in the region, e.g. Tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis, meningitis, viral haemorrhagic fevers, nosocomial infections zoonotic diseases, the 6 killing diseases of childhood, and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

b.  Combating non-communicable diseases of priority in the region, the attack rate of which had shown an increase in the last decades as the cardio vascular diseases, metabolic, degenerative onchologic, mental and psychic and other diseases; the morbidity and mortality of  which are correlated with the changes in the life style and causing a real threat to the people in the region.

c.  Coordination between member states in  other curative fields like:

     Organ transplantation,  neuro surgery, fine advanced surgery, eye diseases, blood banks, hereditary diseases, traditional and herbal  medicine, etc.

Control of non-communicable Diseases in the Gulf Area

The changes brought about by demographic and epidemiologic transition had a profound impact on the health patterns in countries of Gulf Region. chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes, genetic and respiratory conditions are rising dramatically in the Gulf Region. Currently, 45% of the region's disease burden is due to non-communicable diseases. It is expected that this burden will rise to 60% by the year 2020.  CVD and diabetes are emerging as the single leading cause of mortality in Gulf. The enormous burden caused, in terms of suffering and health costs is escalating. NCDs present mainly at the primary health care (PHC) level and will therefore need to be handled principally in these settings. Yet, most primary health care has developed in response to acute problems and the urgent need of patients. Health care workers need thee skills and practical tools to manage these chronic conditions and to ensure that patients receive comprehensive, coordinated care.

Expatriate Workers Check-up Project

The project is one of the most important programmes supervised by The Executive Board which defined the health requirements needed to be fulfilled by workers coming for work in the region, and set details for laboratory and radiological investigations required to be undergone by those workers in addition to defining the set of diseases that workers should be free from.

 In addition, The Executive Board chartered some medical centers in their home countries to conduct the specified  medical radiological and laboratory investigations before workers are granted the entry visas to the Gulf States. The Executive Board also subjects those selected medical centers for regular follow up and evaluation.

 The development leap,  that the GCC  States know during the last decades, was and is still, undoubtedly,  in need of more manpower attracted from other countries to help in the continuous movement of growth , development and construction in the area.

 For fear of the arrival of any disease that may be spread in some of the countries exporting this manpower, or the arrival of some workers unable to fulfill the tasks assigned to them, something which may cause problems to the importing countries and form a burden to the health services in the member states. This arouses the need to better choose the candidates to work in the area, taking into account the exactness in the medical test before their arrival.

The immigrants do not affect only the health, but also go beyond to the psychological aspects in addition to their performance; namely the influence of the housemaids and nursemaids upon the children in their early childhood. Regarding those working in the fields like agriculture, commerce, Industry, restaurants, hotels and public services, who leave their impression on the social and attitudinal pursuit and on customs and traditions. All that is also related, directly or indirectly, with the Public Health.

The 38^th conference in January 1995 issued a decision approving that the Executive Board shall maintain the supervision of the immigrants medical test centers. The Board, in this regards, formed commissions to visit the main exporting countries of this manpower to examine and choose the medical centers that are competent enough to make the required medical tests according to the scientific and conventional basics and standards. The Board also determined the health conditions required in the authorized medical center, the required medical aptitudes in the immigrants intending to work in the area in addition to the clinical, laboratorial and radiological examinations to be made to the immigrant. 

The Board also formed a commission which started work since June 1995 and long up to the year 2001 making ten visits in the countries of South East Asia, exporting most of the immigrants working in the GCC. States: India, Srilanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Nepal, and Indonesia. The authorized centers, to now, reach 175 Health Center distributed as follows:-

India                : 71

Pakistan          : 15

Philippines      : 17

Srilanka          : 10     

Bangladesh     : 22

Indonesia        : 25

Nepal              : 05

Those, annually, examined in these centers reach one Million and a half, of whom the unfit reach 10.9%.

Strategic Health Planning

Coordinating among the Council states in the health planning programmes such as unifying the health concepts and definitions, deriving the sound health planning methods, installing the data and cost analysis systems, evaluating the performance rationalizing the expenditures of the health utilities and economic feasibility figures of the health and quality assurance programs and reviewing the use of the health service and others.  All these topics are being dealt with through concerned teams.

Primary Health Care

Primary Health Care received the attention of The Executive Board very early since its establishment; where a specialized committee was formed (called Primary Health Care Committee).  This committee set a framework for the basics of providing primary health care services, dealt with problems related to basic health services, food, drugs, environmental health, and health education.  This was in February 1976, i.e. two years before the Alma-Ata meeting of the WHO.  The work of this Gulf PHC Committee crystallized later on to define the concept of primary health care so as to suit the local circumstances in the region.  Thus, it set up a job description for workers in this field, designed programmes for their training and rehabilitation.  On the same line, three Gulf conferences on primary health care were organized in Bahrain, Muscat-Oman,  Abu Dhabi and the fourth will be held in Kuwait this year by Allah will.   

The maternal and child health care through the  MCH programmes, ensuring safe pregnancy and delivery, generalizing the concept of the baby friendly hospitals, encouraging breast feeding,   EPI programmes . ...etc

Nursing Service

Improving the nursing services through the Gulf Nursing Committee which began its work since the establishment of HMC/GCC in 1976. This committee had verified many achievements starting by raising standards of education in the nursing schools, unification of their curricula and the introduction of higher nursing institutes and colleges for nursing in the member countries, bringing to this profession new programmes for continuous education and future upgrading, promoting the acquisition and utilization of knowledge on new techniques in this profession and on quality assurance in nursing services in the gulf states.

 This committee had also suggested and strategy to verify its goals for the next 5 years, put a code of professional conduct for nursing ethics, and organized 4 Gulf Scientific Seminars on nursing topics. The fifth will be held in Riyadh October 2002, where in this conference “Nassiba Bint Kaab Awards” were prepared by the Ministers Council to be awarded annually to the best  she - or he - nurse at the national level of each member state.  A special booklet about nursing profession under the title of "Code of Professional Conduct for Nursing was among the Executive Office publications.