H.E. Dr. Saeed Harib Al Lamki, Undersecretary for Health Affairs at Ministry of Health inaugurated today (Monday) the first Conference of Public Health Intersections with Environmental-Occupational Toxicology and Chemical Emergencies at InterCity Hotel. 

The Conference was organized by the Ministry of Health represented by the Directorate General for Disease Surveillance and Control, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, in collaboration with Emergency Management Center, the Middle East and North Africa Clinical Toxicology Association (MENATOX), and Emory University, USA. 

The event targeted physicians, clinical pharmacists, public health professionals, poison specialists, residents, and allied medical staff, with the participation of experts from World Health Organization, American Society of Toxicology, European Society of Toxicology, Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology (APAMT). 

The conference aimed at understanding the interface of health and the environment, enhancing the recognition of critical public health events, fostering intersectoral collaboration for outbreak investigations, in addition to establishing a framework to mitigate lead hazards, and discussing the role of biological monitoring in safeguarding workers exposed to chemicals.

a three pre-conference workshops were conducted on Sunday that addressed Petrochemical Industry Hazards, WHO Chemicals of Concern: Characterization and Risk Mitigation, Perspectives of a Clinical Toxicologist, and Outbreak Investigation. 

At its conclusion, the Conference of Public Health Intersections with Environmental-Occupational Toxicology and Chemical Emergencies recommended strengthening cooperation between specialists in environmental and clinical toxicology and various public health sectors in the Sultanate of Oman, developing research in this field, as well promoting decentralization with regard to chemical incident emergency response and management, and enhancing national capacity for management of chemical incidents.