Coordinator of Food-borne diseases surveillance and Outbreaks Investigation
GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF HEALTH AFFAIRS in Riyadh, KSA
Total years of experience :17 years, 9 Months
Coordinate food poisoning outbreak’s detection and investigation and determine urgent action.
Generate data to be used for risk analysis and ensure safety of food supplies
Surveillance improvement by holding meetings to encourage regular and rapid sharing of information between different stakeholders.
Active surveillance through hospitals visit to detect non-notified cases, identify gabs and recommend solutions for the identified gaps
Participate in monitoring trends and know whether the situation is improving or worsening.
Estimate burden of disease in order to determine the magnitude of the problem
Facilitation of training of subordinates in food safety issues and food poisoning surveillance.
Supportive Supervision.
Achievements:
Regarding my current role as coordinator of forborne diseases surveillance I developed and raised the profile of the program in the biggest and most populated region in Saudi Arabia. In terms of situational analysis, I conducted universal hospital base line survey contributed to gabs identification and applying recommendations that resulted in building good notification system, competent investigation teams regular reporting and hospitals focal person’s information bank. At the time of annual evaluation of the program nationally, the program received 90% in a period of 8 months compared to 63% the year before and received a certificate of thankfulness and appreciation from the head quarter in MoH.
Establish, implement, and maintain risk-based occupational health programs and services in Riyadh region Health Affairs in accordance with, the national guidelines & policies, the ISO 45001 standards and the Joint Commission International (JCI) standards.
Ensure implementation of occupational health procedures, policies, and guidelines and establish employees’ clinic.
Work with Department of Security and Safety in developing and implementation and supervising of emergency and disaster preparedness and response plan.
Provide expert advice and support when needed.
Achievements:
I established the first building blocks of the occupational health department in Riyadh Region Health Affairs by:
Collecting and desk review of all the available documents that relates to the occupation health in health care settings. Conducting a preliminary survey to find out the current situation in the health facilities and carrying out field visits to hospitals inside and outside Riyadh to expose the role of occupational health and to activate the role of the occupational health committee and promote a proactive safety culture. As well as developing the occupational health department working plan, following up the application of the facility's occupational health standards depend on the international framework guidelines. Return back tasks/functions related to occupational health from the Department of Infection Control and start monitoring its implementation in the department. As well as ensure implementation of all occupational health procedures, policies, and guidelines. In addition to supportive supervision and training of subordinates plus receive, revised and writing reports.
Head of Health promotion clinic at PHC center, attend to Patient in health promotion clinic and Work with individuals (mainly patients with chronic diseases, children and pregnant women) and groups (female school students) to better their health by:
(a) Develop their health awareness in life-style topics such as diet/weight control, exercise and stress management.
(b) Identify behaviors critical to health and encourage behavior change in the patients and healthy individuals
(c) Provide a rationale for the recommended change and specific instructions to facilitate change
(d) Help suggest interventions designed to enhance engagement in health behaviors, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions for individuals and groups
Create Partnership and ensure harmonization and establish mentorship/networking as a means of building capacity
Supportive supervision of the wellness center and health promotion clinic staff.
Achievements:
Participated in designing the first community wellness program at PHC level in KSA (including establishment of wellness center at the PHC family centers, developing plan, implementing and evaluating the program). The program was chosen among the best five health projects in KSA, 2017, with recommendation from the minister of health to implement it in all other health regions.
Delivering lectures, seminars and tutorials, designing, preparing and developing teaching material, supervising students' research activities and supporting students through a pastoral/advisory role with significant experience in field.
Teach and instruct field residents on epidemiology, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, and biostatistics as well as other public health sciences.
Train the residents to conduct epidemiologic investigations and field surveys, design and evaluate surveillance systems, collect and analyze data using appropriate statistical tools and methods, report their findings.
Investigate, analyze and interpret epidemiological data and contribute to evidence-based decisions for rapid and effective response to health threats.
Edit and organize the Saudi Epidemiology Bulletin.
Involved in provision of technical support to the MoH in surveillance and issues of Public Health importance such as outbreaks investigation and report writing.
Achievements:
Nominated member of preparatory committee of the first Saudi Epidemiology conference in Jeddah, participated in preparation of the conference workshops.
Attend to Patient in family clinic and Work with individuals and families (mainly patients with chronic diseases children and pregnant women) and groups (female school students) to better their health by:
- Develop their health awareness in life-style topics such as diet/weight control, exercise and stress.
- Identifying behaviors critical to health, encourage behavior change in the patients and healthy and individuals
- Providing a rationale for the recommended change and specific instructions to facilitate change
- Help suggest interventions designed to enhance engagement in health behaviors, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions for individuals and groups
Interact with other health care professionals to discuss care options for patients and their families
Founder member of the Directorate of Planning and State Affairs which lead development of the standardized PHC services map and the coordination of the integration process among the different programs of general directorate of primary health care, FMoH
Facilitation of training for Local health system affiliates from sub-national levels.
Headed the PHC integrated training unit at the directorate of Planning and States' Affairs, development of training need assessment and development of integrated PHC training plan.
Contributed to health system support plan development and regular review of operational work plans
Managed and coordinated different PHC surveys and studies at national, state and locality level
Was the National focal point of national PHC mapping survey 1011 - 2012.
Achievements:
- National Focal Person of the National Primary Health Care Mapping Survey, Sudan 2011- 2012, successfully led the national PHC mapping survey, facilitated the fifteen training workshops in all States, managed and supervised data collection, analyzed data and report writing. The national PHC mapping survey report was essential to the Government to make sound policy decisions such as baseline for the Sudan universal health coverage plan.
- Actively participated in the taskforce to revise/update service package for primary healthcare and Family Medicine in Sudan (2012) in terms of type/designation of health facility, Services provided (existing and proposed), Grid Staff assigned (existing and proposed). Participated in the development of a master plan to pilot revised service package and job descriptions in two states.
- Successfully managed and spearheaded the second Sudan House Hold Survey and the Maternal Mortality Survey 2010 in South Kordofan State a challenging state, was in civil war for very long time with poor roads and insecurity in some areas. Effectively coordinated all the State Field operations activities including logistics, collect and account for with documentation all field materials being distributed to field staff, receive regular updates from the field teams, clarify any technical issues arising in the field, communicate regularly with HQ Coordination team on the progress of fieldwork in the State, collect and account for personally with documentation all questionnaires and listing forms, periodically visit teams in the field to monitor progress, personally take charge of the field instruments (questionnaires and listing forms) and bring them back to HQ for accounting and data entry.
- Worked to the PHC in Post Conflict Areas Project, Salara municipality, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan, 2009, a Community Based Development intervention, I was responsible for the capacity building and development of Volunteers for Health system, development of healthy life styles, increasing access of the poor to health services and the establishment of health and development data- base to streamline health and development
- Researcher, appointed member of the Technical Core Research team, Research Section, National Health Research Council, FMoH, Apr 2009 - Mar 2013. Participated in writing research proposals and literature reviews, development of data collection tools "quantitative & qualitative", training of data collectors, research coordination and filed supervision at national and state levels. As well as data analysis & management, report writing and disseminating researches and studies’ results through seminars and workshops) and participation in development and update of the health research priorities in Sudan. Assessing the Organization and Management Capacity of Health System is an example of studies.
2009 - April 2013: Member of the Technical Core Research team, National Research Council, Research Section, Federal Ministry of Health,
Participated in the conduction and coordination of the following researches and studies:
oAssessment of health research ethics in Sudan
oCoordinator of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) in the Sudanese communities for their health seeking behavior
oAssessing the Organization and Management Capacity of Decentralized Health System at state and locality levels
oAssessing the free care policy for children under five and pregnant women in Sudan
onational health insurance fund household survey in Sudan
oAssisting in the development and update of the national health research priorities
Main duties:
-Writing the research proposal and literature review
o Development of data collection tools (quantitative & qualitative)
o Training o f Data collectors
o Data collection (quantitative & qualitative)
o Filed supervision at national and state level
o Data analysis & management (quantitative & qualitative)
o Report writing
o Disseminating research results through seminars and workshops
- scientific papaer writing for publication
Coordinated the emergency information unit and involved in setting up of the unit and smooth functioning of emergency information service before, during South Kordofan War 2010, and after the emergency.
Designed data collection tools, analyzed & interpreted and disseminated collated dataGenerated & updated various status reports, maintained updated documentation/ archives
Participated in meetings and conducted training sessions for junior team members
Worked in Vulnerability, Risk Analysis & Mapping (VRAM) project of Sudan’s five Border States with South Sudan. Drafted the State’s Emergency profile
Manager of Sudan House Hold Survey 2 and Maternal mortality Survey 2010, South kordofan State 12/02/2010 to 30/05/2010 ( Managing finance, Training of Data collectors on questionaires, Supervision of Data collection Teams, Editing of collected Data, collecting collected blood samples from different clusters in the field and sending it to central lab in khartoum and problem solving.
Ensured compliance to various SLA parameters across PHC projects
Coordinated activities related to drafting of proposals, technical reports and participated in various meetings
Conducted master training for health system manager from national levels to state and locality levels
Prepared report titled: “Analysis and Evaluation of Local Health System in Sudan 2008”
Workshop on the Data analysis and country report writing, of Global Youth School Based Tobacco Survey,
EMRO, Cairo, Egypt July 2009.
- Raising of community awareness about the health and development: - Training of sectors representatives in 13 villages strengthening
- Worked in capacity building of community
- Mobilize local institutions in support of PHC
- building intersectorality
2006 - 2007 - Medical officer, Department of internal medicine then Department of Chest Diseases (Tuberculosis Control
Programme) Elobied Teaching Hospital, North Kordofan State, Sudan
2003 -2005 Internship (Housemanship), during which I worked in the following departments:
- Internal Medicine Department, Omdurman Teaching Hospital
- Paediatrics Department Omdurman Teaching hospital for Children
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology Departments, Khartoum North Teaching Hospital
- Internal Medicine, General Surgery, & Orthopaedics Surgery, Omdurman Military Hospital
Community Medicine Medical Doctorate (MD), with Thesis Paper (MD in Community Medicine) Health related Behaviour of population in post conflict area, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan State, Sudan 2011
Master of Public Health with thesis Paper “Knowledge of Issues of HIV/AIDS, and Sexual Practices Among Adolescents – the Case of Almoglad Town, South Kordofan, Sudan” (Kuala Lumpur 2008)
Bachelor of Surgery and Medicine (M.B.B.S) with research on Coverage Rate of Post-natal Care, Ombada Locality, Omdurman, Sudan