05 - January 29th thru February 4th
2001, Vol XI
 
Dr.
Abdulrahman to YT:
"The Yemeni cadre has
to follow
up all new developments in medicine"
 Abdulrahman
Ali Ahmad al-Shamiri, was born in 1964 in Sahban, Bani Saif, Taiz. He completed
his secondary studies in Hodeidah and then carried out his compulsory military
service. After this,he was granted a scholarship to study medicine in Germany.
He finished his study in 1989 and worked for a year in Basedow hospital.
Then, he came back to Yemen at the end of 1990. He served in al-Ghaidah
city and then came back to Sana'a to work in the 26 September Hospital
in Bani Matar for three months. Then, he worked in al-Thawrah Hospital
Neuro department at the beginning of 1992. In 1994 he left for Austria
to complete his higher studies. He worked in the university hospital of
Vienna until May 1998. Then he moved with his professor Richling to the
Christian Doppler Clinic in Salzburg. Mr. Abulrahman also participated
in many conferences and training workshops abroad. Mr. Saif al-Sahbani
met with him and filed the following interview:
Q: What was your dissertation on?
A: In the beginning of 2000, I
finished my dissertation which was on neurosurgery. The dissertation title
was the treatment of vascular diseases including vascular mal-formation,
aneurysm and many other diseases. Professor Richling was the one supervising
my dissertation in Vienna University, Austria.
Q: What are the conferences and research that
you worked on?
A: During my stay in Vienna university,
I attended many training courses including Microsurgical Training. From
1996-1998, I worked on practical research on vascular neurosurgery. My
research was then published in international medical magazines in Germany
and the USA. In February 2000, I participated in a conference and training
workshop held in Belgium on Neuro intensive care. I also participated in
the training workshop held in Britain's Cambridge University on Neuro Monitoring.
Q: Why do not you come back to Yemen?
A: Neurosurgery
is one of the most complex and high fields that requires a lot of expensive
resources. Our country with its poor resources lacks such equipment and
tools for many reasons including economic reasons. I hope the government
will set up fully equipped hospitals. I also hope the government will give
the private sector a chance to work in this field.
I feel that the Yemeni cadre has to follow up
all new developments in medicine in terms of attending training workshops,
seminars and courses abroad. However, this may cost them a lot sometimes.
I am sure that the Yemeni cadre, if given the chance, can do a lot. However,
it is a matter of resources as I said before. I will come to the country
when I find that the resources for my specialization are available in the
country so as to apply what I have learnt.
O: How do you assess the health situation in
Yemen?
A: The health situation in all
the countries of the world, rich and poor, is a heavy burden that needs
a lot of funding. It is a big problem for many countries as this institution
is a consuming institution in the first place. Health has become very costly
not because of the high cost of the workforce but mainly because of the
high cost of materials used in examining and the machines and above all
the treatment.
Our health problem, shared with many other developing countries is
that the government is not able to cover the expenses, besides the low
standard of individual income making people unable to afford the expenses
of treatment. Moreover, the expenses of training doctors are also very
high. However, I believe that the countries of the third world are able
to cure all these problems if they have the will to do that.
Q: How do you view the private hospitals in
Yemen?
A: Private hospitals are a good
initiative, when established within a framework of regulations and agreed
upon conditions, particularly those relating to the government monitoring
their performance in a strict and precise way. People's lives are not to
play with or to conduct experiments on and are not to trade with. The policy
of reward and punishment is to be applied on both the owners of hospitals
and on Health Ministry employees monitoring these hospitals.
Q: Any last word?
A: First I extend my best regards
for all those who work for the welfare of our society either inside or
outside. I also keep my fingers crossed so as to see our country develop
in all fields, especially in the health field.
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