Damascus:"Jahiziyat Suriya," the Syrian-Emirati Medical Readiness and Response Programme, has commenced its third phase at the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Field Hospital in the Damascus countryside. This initiative aims to train and qualify 20,000 medical, emergency, technical, and leadership personnel over the next five years. The programme is a collaborative effort between the Syrian Ministry of Health and the UAE National Medical Readiness and Response Programme, known as "Jahiziyat."
According to Wam, the new phase intends to broaden the scope of training, specializations, and target groups while reinforcing international academic and professional partnerships. This will be achieved through a comprehensive national system that integrates academic education, clinical training, practical application, simulation, and field-based training tailored to the health, security, and defense sectors, as well as field medical teams.
The programme's curriculum covers a wide range of areas, including emergency medicine, critical care, intensive care, disaster medicine, mass-casualty incidents, medical triage, major incident management, pre-hospital medical care, trauma medicine, medical evacuation, burn care, severe trauma, and response to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents. It also includes health crisis management, command and control, and operations and emergency centers, alongside training national instructors and developing clinical training and simulation capabilities.
The five-year initiative is focused on identifying training needs across various sectors and specialties, developing curricula, implementing foundational, advanced, and specialized training programmes, and enhancing international academic partnerships. It will monitor performance indicators and measure training impact to ensure sustainable professional development, continuous skills updating, and improved capacity among institutions and medical and emergency response teams to manage emergencies, crises, and disasters.
Dr. Mohammad Al-Khatib, Director General of the Syrian Board for Medical Specialities, emphasized that cooperation with the Jahiziyat Suriya programme is instrumental in developing medical training and qualifications, enhancing professional competencies, and advancing specialized medical education. The programme updates training pathways, strengthens integration among healthcare institutions, academic bodies, and training centers, and utilizes international expertise to design appropriate training programmes.
Dr. Adel Abdullah Al Shamri Al Ajmi, CEO of the Zayed Giving Initiative and leader of the UAE Medical Readiness and Response Programme, highlighted that the third phase is focused on building a sustainable national system for training medical and emergency personnel. This phase aims to strengthen healthcare institutions' readiness for emergencies and disasters and transfer international expertise to Syrian professionals. The initiative involves academic and professional partnerships with over ten universities and specialized training centers across the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the UAE, aligning with international standards and practices.