title: Trauma care in Oman: A call for action.
abstract: Many Arab countries have undergone the epidemiologic transition of diseases with increasing economic development and a proportionately decreasing prevalence of communicable diseases. With this transition, injuries have emerged as a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in addition to diseases of affluence. Injuries are the number one cause of years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years in the Sultanate of Oman. The burden of injuries, which affects mostly young Omani males, has a unique geographic distribution that is in contrast to the trauma care capabilities of the country. The concentration of health care resources in the northern part of the country makes it difficult for the majority of Omanis who live elsewhere to access high-quality and time-sensitive care. A broader multisectorial national injury prevention strategy should be evidence based and must strengthen human resources, service delivery, and information systems to improve care of the injured and loss of life. This paper provides a unique overview of the Omani health system with the goal of examining its trauma care capabilities and injury control policies.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: amehmoo2@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehmood
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Katharine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Research Council of Oman, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Maniri
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Sultanate of Oman, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Ammar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Kashmiri
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Sultanate of Oman, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Yazidi
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Adnan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Hyder
mesh_terms: D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D006801:Humans; D009850:Oman / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*