MUSCAT: A joint report between the GCC Health Council and the GCC Statistical Center (GCC-STAT), on the great efforts made by the GCC countries with regard to measures and policies they adopted to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report indicated that the Sultanate of Oman had contributed to the official development assistance of the GCC against Covid-19 by providing medical aid to several neighbouring countries. It also provided ventilators, medicines and medical equipment and dispatched shipments of medical supplies, foods, medicines and electricity generators and other forms of financial and logistic support to health institutions in neighbouring countries.
The report indicated that the proper monitoring and the building of information systems is one of the most important efforts that support and provide both the decision-makers and the public with accurate, up-to-date and credible information. The GCC countries set up a database to follow up the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic which contributed to making information available to various users at all levels.
The confirmed coronavirus cases in the Sultanate of Oman made up 12 per cent of the total cases in the GCC countries and 2 per cent of the total active cases until the end of November last year.
The report indicated that one of the GCC developmental efforts in the health sector to address the pandemic was the establishment of the GCC Center for Disease Prevention and Control which came with the blessing of the leaders of the GCC countries at the meeting of the Supreme Council of the Al Ula Summit held in January 2021, where the leaders agreed to establish the center as one of the joint GCC actions to face the Covid-19 pandemic and other epidemic and to alleviate public health emergencies and promote healthy communities across the GCC.
The contributions of the GCC countries in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic varied. The Sultanate of Oman produced about 2 million medical gloves per day and 100,000 medical masks. The UAE produced 250 devices per day and developed and produced ventilators for emergency cases from local materials.
The Kingdom of Bahrain produced masks, medical supplies, the production of medicines and nutritional supplements, and participated in the production of anti-coronavirus vaccines as part of the international efforts.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched the first ventilator with international specifications that can be used at home.
The State of Qatar manufactured 200 locally-made and identical ventilators per week that met the specifications of the US food and drug standards.
The State of Kuwait produced 9 million medical masks per day according to a joint report between the GCC Health Council and GCC Statistical Center.
