Læknaneminn - 01.04.1997, Page 15

Education in family and community liealth in a developing country: The Sultanate of Oman
The oldest known settlements date back more than
5000 years, so Oman has a long history, but to make a
long story short the present period dates back to 1970
when the present Sultan Qaboos bin Said AI Said came
to power. The backdrop to his assuming power was the
development of oil production in the mid 1960s.The
Sultan has been tremendously successful in using the
profits of the oil sale for the benefits of his country as
well as its people. Oman has come out of medieval
darkness into a highly technological world, in the brief
span of only 25 years.The country adopted a welfare
state policy by offering Omanis education, jobs, social
advantages, and a standard of living comparable to
Western countries.
Although the present renaissance brought Oman out
of medieval darkness, it does not mean that Oman did
not flourish in the past. It is in both the mountains and
the seas that the Omanis found their main natural reso-
urces. 1 heir large copper reserves and frankincense
brought them into contact with the greatest ancient ci-
vilisations. Oman was an important trading centre
between the Gulf and India, SE Asia and China. Great
camel caravans also crossed mountains and deserts
bringing the wealth of the orient all over the Arabian
peninsula and even to the Mediterranean 4.
LEVEL of health care and education
54 % of the national population is 15 years or youn-
ger reflecting the true pyramid pattern of the demog-
taphy, compared to the reverse pattern from the West.
Life expectancy is estimated at 65-70 y on average. In
line with the true pyramid pattern of its demography
Oman has very high fertility rates - 7-8 children per
family and the population growth rate of - 4% is also
high. The infant mortality has come down from more
than 100/1000 in 1975 to 23/1000 today 5.
This change is due to a rapid development of hospi-
tal care, secondary as well as tertiary and improved liv-
ing standards.
Today the hospital network is relatively well devel-
oped in terms of premises and facilities, but the man-
power is still largely expatriates. Contrary to an adequ-
ate Ievel of hospital care, primary health care can be
said to be developing. There are around 150 govern-
mental health centres and more than 400 private clin-
ics catering for the primary medical needs of the pop-
ulation. All the doctors therein are expatriates, and
usually without postgraduate vocational training.
The Ministry of Health has conscientiously implem-
ented the public health measures of the WHO policy’s
agenda and has achieved remarkable standards in
immunisation coverage (one of the highest in the
world) in addition to initiating many programmes
directed towards community health. But what is sofar
lacking is provision of a patient-centred family med-
icine within the primary care network. To that end,the
funcdon of the department of Family and Community
Health at the Sultan Qaboos University, comes into
focus.
FACT0RS AFFECTING HEALTH IN 0MAN
Oman has many factors working in its favour as it
struggles to improve the health of its people. Firstly, it
is rich compared with most developing countries, albeit
on a lower level than the other Gulf countries. Second-
ly, it does not have the urban or rural poverty as seen in
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