Uniform health care plan needed in UAE

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Professor William Dunlop, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) said that different systems of care in the country make it difficult to establish a uniform standard of care that would greatly serve patients as well as health care providers.

Professor Dunlop was on a short visit to the country to invigilate the two-day membership examinations of the ROCG, organised by the Corniche Hospital in the capital on Tuesday for about 120 candidates from the UAE and other Gulf states.

The professor also suggested establishing a body to oversee setting of standards and guidelines that suit the culture and health needs of the country.

"Setting up a body to look at certain standards of healthcare, according to the country's culture and medical needs, is necessary for the best interest of patients and medical professionals," said Professor Dunlop, who has been a foundation member of the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (EBCOG).

"This is actually the mission of the RCOG, which has more than half of its members oversees and has significant influence upon women's health care in many parts of the world," he explained.

According to Prof. Dunlop, there is an increasing tendency for the international links of the RCOG to be seen as peripheral in importance. One of the main functions of the RCOG's Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board will be to recognise qualifications and experience obtained overseas. A deeper understanding of the work and training programmes of overseas institutions would clearly facilitate this process. The RCOG is well placed to encourage a dialogue among these institutions.

The British expert had another mission which was to visit the ROCG's Reference Committee in the UAE that has been established recently to provide training and teaching of medical programmes in the country relevant to the needs of pregnant women, and offering assistance for different countries to develop frameworks to improve healthcare locally.

The committee is one of more than 30 functioning committees around the globe assisted by internationally recognised experts.

On how can women's needs be met, Prof. Dunlop whose research interest has been the physiology of human pregnancy, said: "Existing attempts to solve the problems of women's health worldwide include political pressure, donations and the work of international agencies."

He said national institutions such as the RCOG have specific experience related to women's healthcare in their own countries. If this range of experience and expertise could be coordinated globally, there would be the potential for considerable benefits for women throughout the world, he added.

About implications facing the RCOG, he said the College needs to identify, through existing members if necessary, national institutions overseas with functions similar to its own. A register of such institutions should be established and updated on a regular basis, he advised.

"Discussions should be undertaken with officers of these institutions so as to identify areas where a common approach to problem-solving would be valuable," he said.

Formal mechanisms should be put in place to identify projects, apply for funding, review progress and disseminate information, recommended Prof. Dunlop.