HMC to use new blood processing technology - Qatar Tribune

18
Thursday, June 16, 2011
www.qatar-tribune.com
CONTACT US
Qatar Tribune —
Editorial: Phone: 44422077
Fax: 44416790
Administration & Marketing
Phone: 44666810, Fax: 44654975
P. O. Box: 23493, Doha
EDITORIAL: qatar.editor@gmail.com
qatar.pressreleases@gmail.com
COMMERCIAL PRESS RELEASE:
qtpressreleases@qatar-tribune.com
ADMINISTRATION: admin@qatar-tribune.com
ADVERTISEMENT: advertising@qatar-tribune.com
CIRCULATION: circulation@qatar-tribune.com
CLASSIFIED: classifieds@qatar-tribune.com
WCMC-Q expert
x-rays travel
health risks
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
WITH more people
embarking on international
travel, the health risks
associated with visiting
countries with less developed
health and hygiene
standards have become
more pressing, said Dr
Ravinder Mamtani, professor
of public health and
associate dean for global
and public health at Weill
Cornell Medical College in
Qatar (WCMC-Q).
Speaking at the monthly
‘Medicine and U’ lectures on
Wednesday, Dr Mamtani
said that statistics show that
between 22 and 64 percent
of travellers reported illnesses
as a result of visiting
a developing country.
He said, “There are growing
numbers of people travelling.
In the US alone,
there has been an increase
of 21 percent of Americans
travelling abroad over the
past 15 years. In order to
avoid illness some precautions
should be taken.”
Dr Mamtani identified
three groups of potential
health hazards facing travellers.
They are the exacerbation
of existing illness,
such as a respiratory disorder
which could become
aggravated by high altitudes;
illnesses associated
with travelling in cramped
conditions for long periods
of time such as deep vein
thrombosis, and thirdly new
illnesses and infections.
“There are some basic
steps travellers can take to
protect themselves from
this third category,” said Dr
Mamtani. “One of the most
common illnesses contracted
by those travelling to
poorer countries is diarrhoea
and there are some
fundamental steps that can
prevent this such as avoiding
eating or drinking in
places of questionable
quality. Drink only sterilised
water and don’t buy
food from street vendors.
Always ensure your food is
thoroughly cooked and
served hot and keep some
hand wipes on you.”
Those travelling to
Africa, S America and Asia
need to be aware of risks
from mosquito bites and
LANI ROSE R DIZON
DOHA
THE Supreme Council of
Health (SCH) will hold the
initial assessment phase in
developing the national
accreditation programme for
medical facilities by the end
of the month.
The SCH is working on the
programme alongside
Accreditation Canada, an
independent organisation
accredited by the
International Society for
Quality in Healthcare to
assess healthcare services
provided to patients based
Dr Ravinder Mamtani
other parasites.
Dr Mamtani recommended
visiting a doctor
before travelling to seek
advice on minimising
potential health risks.
Malaria pills can be
obtained and mosquito
repellent creams bought to
take with you and treated
bed nets should always be
used.
Dr Mamtani also said
travellers should always
take steps to plan for safe
and healthy travel and
ensure their vaccinations
are up-to-date as a protection
against infections such
as Hepatitis A and B,
malaria and yellow fever.
“Also ensure you are adequately
covered for insurance
and to take a list of
qualified doctors with you
when you travel. Remember
to pack an emergency medical
kit containing essential
items such as antihistamine
cream and tablets,” he said.
Antibiotics, decongestants,
band-aids, and of
course, sun cream are some
of the essential items he
said travellers should take
along with them.
“If you develop any
symptoms after you return
home such as weight loss,
diarrhoea or fever, seek
medical care immediately,”
he added.
Dr Mamtani recommended
that those on long
haul flights should avoid
drinking alcohol and
remember to stay well
hydrated as the risk of deep
vein thrombosis (DVT)
increases three fold on
flights that are over six
hours long.
“Try a few light stretches
for at least five minutes and
if you are in a high risk category,
you should wear
compression stockings,” he
said.
on standards of excellence.
Speaking to the media on
the sidelines of the ‘Tools
and Frameworks for
Healthcare Quality and
Safety’ workshop organised
by the SCH on Wednesday,
Dr Huda al Katheeri, manager
of quality assurance at the
medical licensing department
of SCH, said that officials
from Accreditation
Canada would visit Qatar for
one week to meet with the
health minister and other
healthcare stakeholders in
the country.
She said, “The Qatar
National Accreditation will
MOHAMED KHOULAIDI
DOHA
FIFTEEN schools have been
awarded National Candidacy
Certificates by Qatar National
School Accreditation (QNSA),
an arm of the Supreme
Education Council (SEC).
Twenty private and international
schools and kindergartens
were nominated for
the award. The awarding ceremony
on Wednesday was
attended by principals and
officials of the schools.
The awarded schools were
International Shouiefat
School, Gulf English School,
Doha British Montessori
School, Al Arqam Academy
for Girls, Al Forqan School
Complex, Doha College,
be a programme for all private
hospitals. We’re developing
the Qatar National
Accreditation in conjunction
with Accreditation Canada.
By the end of this programme,
we will be accredited
to accredit hospitals. We
have also asked all the private
hospitals to go for international
accreditation within
the next four to five years.
Our role here is to guide them
and follow up their progress.
This is mandatory for them
and it will be a requirement
for their licensing. Polyclinics
are likely to be included in
the second stage,” she added.
DATELINE DOHA
Officials of Supreme Education Council and QNSA with the representatives of awarded schools, in Doha, on Wednesday. (MANEESH BAKSHI)
QNSA accredits 15 schools
Compass International
School, Cambridge School, Al
Maha Academy for Boys, Iqra
English School for Girls, Al
Hekma International School,
Cambridge International
School for Girls, Newton
International School, Doha
Modern Indian School and Al
Maha Academy for Girls.
Dr Hamda al Sulaiti, assistant
director of the Evaluation
Institute of the SEC, said that
the award “confirms the
schools’ awareness of the
importance and significance
of accreditation, and makes us
hope that these schools shall
continue in their efforts over
the next 18 months, to obtain
the first category of accreditation,
based on the application
of established standards.
She said during the initial
phase, health officials will
assess what is needed in
healthcare according to the
Qatari culture, the background
of workers, and the
services provided.
“Based on that, we will go
to the second phase where
we’ll actually work on developing
the standards and
review the international
standards to proceed with
the accreditation,” she said.
Dr Denise Murphy of the
Royal College of Surgeons
Institute of Leadership in
Ireland said, “This will be a
long way to start raising the
“At the Evaluation Institute,
we decided to establish a system
of accreditation by focusing
on unifying the visions,
goals and strategies in the
educational community, and
emphasising continuous quality
improvement in order to
reach excellence and achieve
comprehensive quality and
commitment to transparency
and flexibility.”
She added that the SEC was
keen to improve the quality of
education in the country to
achieve the Qatar National
Vision 2030 and its strategic
plan for comprehensive attention
to all sectors and institutions
of the educational
process.
Explaining the process of
accreditation, Aisha al
standards in a country’s
healthcare environment. In
that you put the baseline
frameworks in place and this
will be supplemented and
reinforced to accreditation
Hashimi, director of School
Evaluation Office of the
QNSA, said that a school
“must first apply for school
candidacy with QNSA by
completing appropriate
school description forms and
reports. This is followed by a
school visit by the QNSA to
validate school description
report. The QSNA recommends
the candidacy stature
to the schools meeting the
requirements to begin full
accreditation process, and fulfill
requirements for school
relicensing”.
To issue a decision on a
school accreditation, a report
made by the visiting team is
submitted to the accreditation
committee, which in turn,
studies in-depth, the recom-
and risk management. The
staff on the ground will have
the skills ready when it
comes to accreditation”.
About 30 participants
from the Hamad Medical
mendations made. Finally, on
the basis of these reports and
recommendations, the SEC
decides on the granting of
accreditation as well as the
duration of such accreditation.
The QNSA is a specialised
office in the Evaluation
Institute of SEC. Its main role
is to review a school’s selfstudy
for a period of 18
months, validating areas of
strength and reinforcing the
areas a school needs to
improve on. Quality assessment
is being carried out
through reference to standards
of good practice. These
standards are considered as
the basis for accreditation in
schools, and are used to assess
a school in the internal quality
assurance processes.
QU college to move to new premises in September
JOSEPH VARGHESE
DOHA
THE College of Business &
Economics (CBE) of Qatar
University will be moving to
its new building in
September.
This was announced by the
College Dean Prof Nitham M
Hindi during a faculty and
student event titled ‘Annual
Strategic Retreat’ at the Ibn
Khaldoon auditorium of the
university on Monday.
Hindi said, “After the summer
vacation, the college will
move to its new premises
which will offer excellent
facilities for the faculty and
the students. Once the new
building is operational, many
of the existing constraints
FIRE
999
AMBULANCE
POLICE
Electricity 991
Water 991
Hamad Hospital 44394444
Childs Emergency Centre (Al Saad) 44393333
Rumila Hospital 44396666
Women’s Hospital 44396666
Airport Services- Enquiry 44622999
QU College of Business & Economics Dean Prof Nitham M Hindi
(second right) with some of the Al Fikra winners, in Doha, on
Monday. (QT PHOTO)
will be solved.”
He presented the internal
assessment form which generated
feedback from stu-
DIAL DOHA
Airport Services-Operator 44656666
Qatar Airways 44496666/44496000
Qatar Airways (Airport) 44496688
Gulf Air 44455444
Gulf Air (Airport) 44656318
Immigration & Passport Department 44890333
Traffic Department 44890666
Water Emergency 44325959
Electricity Emergency 44677601
Weather Forecasting (Admn) 44656590
dents about the performance
of the staff as well as the curriculum
and the standard of
learning at the college.
During the event, four students
presented their Master
of Business Administration
(MBA) dissertations.
Sara Ahmed al Salem presented
a paper on her topic of
research, ‘Customer
Satisfaction with Qtel in
Qatar’ which gave details of
the telecommunications
market in Qatar since the
arrival of Vodafone Qatar.
The study examined the
extent to which factors such
as switching costs and service
quality affected the attributes
of customer satisfaction and
loyalty.
The other presentations
Drain Centre 44687894
Municipality (Doha) 44336336
Ministry of Education 44941111
Qatar Television (QTV) 44894444
Qatar Broadcasting Service (QBS) 44894444
Qatar University 44852222
Postal Department 44464000
SriLankan Airlines 44322628/44369910
Oman Air 44320509/44321373
Oman Air (Airport) 44626835
Accreditation scheme for health facilities by month-end
Participants at the healthcare quality and safety workshop, in Doha, on Wednesday.
included, ‘The effect of communication
and personalisation
services on customer satisfaction
and loyalty in retail
store setting’ by Noora
Abdulaziz al Ansari,
‘Subscribers’ perception
toward pay TV call centre
service in the MENA region
using SERVQUAL tool’ by
Dana Ahmed Ammar and
‘Knowledge sharing in organisation
and role of trust to
effectively facilitate sharing
mechanisms’ by Wajdi H
Zapen.
The students who were
successful in the Al Fikra
competition also showcased
their innovative projects. The
outgoing faculty members of
the College were honoured
during the function.
Corporation, Weill Cornell
Medical College in Qatar,
College of the North Atlantic
Qatar, Ministry of Interior,
Qatar Petroleum, and private
hospitals attended the event.