RIYADH, 6 December 2004 — Occupational health services in the Gulf are far from satisfactory, according to a world-renowned expert on the subject.
A delegation of local, regional and international medical practitioners will discuss this important issue at the 3rd Annual GCC Occupational Health Conference titled, “Advances in international occupational medicine and their effects on the region”, in Dubai from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3.
One in six of all fatal injuries worldwide of people aged between 17 and 64 occurs at work and almost nine in every one hundred full-time employees get injured or suffer from a work-related illness. The five-day conference will highlight issues surrounding the medical treatment, injury prevention and rehabilitation of workers in the Gulf region.
Dr. Jalees Razavi, a specialist in occupational medicine, and the first and only doctor from the Middle East to be appointed to the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners, says that there is a lack of physicians, nurses and paramedics trained in occupational medicine across the region.
“If we compare GCC countries with other industrial countries, we are still living in the 1950s when it comes to occupational health services provided to the workforce, even though we are growing at the same rate,” he said. “We simply do not have enough people with appropriate levels of health training to deal with the number of cases that we are seeing.”
Occupational hazards cause productivity loss and ultimately leads to businesses and the state bearing the financial burden, said Dr. Razavi, who is president and chairman of the Gulf Occupational and Environment Medicine Group, and chairman of the Dubai conference.
For the second year running, the conference has been awarded the Gold Seal of Accreditation from the prestigious American Academy of Continuing Medical Education (AACME). The certification means the conference has undergone an extensive assessment and peer-based survey of its facilities, programs and services.
The AACME accreditation ensures many Middle East practitioners can now undergo continuing medical education while attending the Occupational Health Conference. Previously, they had to travel outside the region for the purpose.
“This is the second year the annual conference has been awarded accreditation by the AACME, demonstrating the continued commitment to provide health care professionals in the region with quality educational opportunities,” said Cynthia Mueller, chairperson of the AACME’s International Accreditation Review Committee.
“The independent evaluation sought by the Dubai-based Institute of International Research (IIR), means those attending will have access to world-class research, speakers and medical workshops,” she added.
“Occupational health is an issue touching the lives of almost every worker in the GCC states at some point,” said Jackie Wilks, conference director, IIR.
