Higher education and the World Health Organization are discussing ways to support university hospitals and develop cooperation relations

Damascus-Sana

The discussion session held today at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, chaired by the Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Bassam Ibrahim, the Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the representative of the World Health Organization in Syria, Dr. Akjemal Makhtomova, and the accompanying delegation focused on ways to support university hospitals and develop joint cooperation relations between The two sides during the next stage.

The two sides reviewed the reality of the health sector in higher education hospitals and their role in providing diagnostic and therapeutic medical care to citizens in accordance with the national health policy approved by the state and in qualifying and training students of medical colleges and health sciences in addition to cooperation agreements with the World Health Organization and the assistance provided by them to university hospitals and projects undertaken by the Ministry. During the current period.

Minister Ibrahim stressed the importance of participatory work between the ministry and the organization, especially after targeting the health sector and sabotaging a number of hospitals as a result of terrorist attacks, pointing out that the ministry has taken procedural steps to fill the shortage of medical personnel by increasing the number of students admitted to postgraduate studies in many specialties and increasing scholarships from Friendly countries and announcing competitions to appoint faculty members in medical colleges.

For his part, Dr. Al-Mandhari praised the medical and educational services provided through university hospitals despite the difficult challenges imposed by the current circumstances in Syria and their role in completing what the hospitals and centers of the Ministry of Health are doing, stressing that the organization continues to support the health sector in Syria in a way that serves the interest of citizens and in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education to support hospitals Affiliate.

The discussion session was followed by a joint scientific forum held at the Faculty of Human Medicine at the University of Damascus on patient safety in the presence of faculty members, department heads and directors of university hospitals in Damascus, during which the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research confirmed that the forum comes within the work plan of the Ministry and universities in coordination and cooperation with the World Health Organization In light of the spread of the Covid 19 epidemic.

Minister Ibrahim pointed out that the World Health Organization did not hesitate to provide any support requested from it, expressing his hope for more cooperation to transfer the experiences of other developed countries in this field, indicating that the Ministry is continuously following up the development of the work of university hospitals.

Dr. Raed Abu Harb, Dean of the College of Medicine spoke about the role of medical education as an integrated system that qualifies its owner to enter the working life in an appropriate manner, indicating that on the occasion of the International Patient Safety Day on 9/17-2020, the World Health Organization issued the Charter for the Safety of Health Workers, which calls on governments and health care leaders To take action to better protect health workers and patients.

During the forum, the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean gave a presentation on patient safety in the Middle East region, the challenges facing this topic, safety methods in light of the Covid 19 pandemic, especially the safety of health workers, in addition to WHO activities to deal with patient safety priorities.

The participants in the forum also discussed the problem of medical equipment disruption in university hospitals, the difficulty of carrying out maintenance for them, the unavailability of spare parts due to unilateral coercive economic measures on Syria and the need for the World Health Organization to intervene in this matter and to provide aid and assistance to the concerned authorities in a way that contributes to saving the lives of thousands of patients. .

Indian Helena