The Ministry of Health (MOH) represented by the Directorate General of Disease Control and Surveillance, in collaboration with the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) launched today (Sunday) the Public Health Empowerment Program (PHEP) - Basic Field Epidemiology.

The launching ceremony was held under the auspices of H.E. Dr. Fatima Mohammed Al Ajmi, MOH’s Undersecretary for Administrative, Financial, and Planning Affairs, with the presence of H.E. Dr. Jean Jabbour, WHO Representative in Oman, Dr. Saif Al Abri, Director General of DCS, along with Ministry’s officials at the City Seasons Hotel.  

MOH Director General of Disease Control and Surveillance affirmed at the beginning of the ceremony the Ministry’s endeavor to control communicable diseases, which remain an increasingly pressing concern for any community, where variety of CDs programs have been launched. Al Abri added that to ensure the sustainability for such programs, a well-qualified health workforce is must. PHEP-BFE is one of the programs that is set to increase the capacity among public health workers in this field.

The Director General stated that a one-week training workshop to train and qualify local mentors of the program’s field training at the governorates’ level will be held. He further pointed out that the PHEP in Field Epidemiology is a three-level program (Basic, Medium, and Advanced). The preparation for the basic level is initiated today while it is hoped that the medium-level will be started before the end of this year. Introduction of the advanced level is to be coordinated and planned within the upcoming two years.    

Representative of the EMPHNET Dr. Faris Al Lami, Public Health Expert gave a word where he pointed out that over the  coming three months, the participants of the program will have the opportunity to strengthen their technical capacities to run and manage the local public health surveillance system, conduct outbreak investigation, and response to common diseases in the Sultanate of Oman.

(23) Health workers at governorates’ level who are responsible for surveillance and monitoring are participating in the program, in addition to number of (12) mentors who are working in the area of public health surveillance and disease outbreaks across the Governorates.

PHEP-BFE is a three-month training that consists of three workshops, and 8 weeks of fieldwork divided over two periods.

The Public Health Empowerment Program aims at empowering participants and building capacities in public health epidemiological surveillance and investigation, and equipping them with the necessary skills to collect, analyze, and present health data effectively and efficiently.