Oman weighs benefits of mobile health care

Muscat: Authorities in Oman are turning their attention to the immense potential for advancing mobile health care services in the country given the significant strides such facilities have made across the globe.

An event titled Mobile Health Seminar on Sunday at the Grand Hyatt Muscat saw delegate after delegate emphasising that the time was ripe for the sultanate to tap advanced mobile health (mHealth) solutions.

Organised by Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM), the technical arm of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), the seminar underlined the importance of using mobile health facilities to strengthen health systems and widen the scope of health care.

Participants stressed on the need to encompass elements of social care and wellness management besides the need for advocacy tools to encourage telecom firms to invest in mobile health.

Mohammad Al Maskari, general manager of KOM, briefly introduced delegates to the current landscape of mobile health services worldwide. “Countries globally are impressively adopting mobile health systems due to the fact that these systems play a prominent role in supporting and developing better health care services for all members of a society,” he said.

The official noted that statistics indicated that 26 per cent of the adult population in the United States used their mobile phones to access health services and information. “Besides, he added, “experts promise a wide space for development and investment opportunities in this area.”

“The market in the sultanate, like other global markets, has witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of mobile phone users,” Al Maskari said.

The growth in mobile phone penetration was put at 2.4 per cent at the end of the first quarter of 2012 compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 totalling 4.9 million users of mobile phone in the country. Statistics also reveal that there is a rapid growth in the number of smartphone users in Oman, allowing more people access to advanced applications.

On the challenges faced in advancing mobile health services, Dr Mohammad Al Ubaidly, said: “Patients need to have all of their medical records. This is vital for safety, because it allows the patients to obtain all their medical records with them from all their doctors and nurses whenever and wherever the patient is being treated.”

Another delegate, Wahid Al Kharousi, stressed on the importance of getting the programme holistically tuned so that users confidence was not undermined. “Other challenges of mHealth services may include getting trained human resources to develop, organise, document and follow up the programme,” he said.

“Mobile health is the future of the sector, and Oman must start it in all its dimensions,” he reiterated.

Saeed Al Shanfari, department head, business development at telecom company Nawras, noted that one of the challenges faced by mobile health in Oman is the lack of resources and projects focused on mobile health.

He recommended that the sector would benefit with more information about IT infrastructure in government and private health establishments besides telecommunications infrastructure in all governorates and high-speed internet for all health establishments.

The seminar was held as part of the Digital Nation series of seminars that are being organised throughout the year. These events aim to provide a strong platform for people in the concerned sectors to develop skills and technologies to communicate and develop new business relations in the field of information and communications technology.