TY - JOUR
T1 - Immigrants and health system challenges to TB control in Oman
AU - Al-Maniri, Abdullah
AU - Fochsen, Grethe
AU - Al-Rawas, Omar
AU - De Costa, Ayesha
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge all the participants in this study. The authors would also like to acknowledge Professor Katarina Hjelm, Vaxu University and Professor Vinod Diwan, Karolinska Institute for reviewing an earlier draft of the manuscript. Funding: This study was financially supported by Sultan Qaboos University as part of an overall funding of a PhD project for the first Author.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Background. During the past three decades, Oman has made significant progress in controlling TB within it's borders. However, the national TB control program elimination target has yet to be reached. This study aims to explore the perceived roles played by the immigrant population and the private health sector in relation to TB control in Oman. Methods. We conducted seventeen interviews with different health care providers. The verbatim transcripts were processed using content analysis. Results. Three main themes emerged. Firstly the threat of repatriation faced by underprivileged expatriates, secondly the criticized and forgotten private health sector as a key player and thirdly the user and provider barriers faced by Omani patients in the Omani public health system. Conclusions. The study has identified some of the challenges and barriers to TB control in Oman. These challenges are mainly related to unintended negative consequences arising from the current repatriation policy of immigrants and to and the lack of involvement of the private sector in TB control. TB control strategies designed to address these challenges are needed, for Oman to reach its TB elimination targets.
AB - Background. During the past three decades, Oman has made significant progress in controlling TB within it's borders. However, the national TB control program elimination target has yet to be reached. This study aims to explore the perceived roles played by the immigrant population and the private health sector in relation to TB control in Oman. Methods. We conducted seventeen interviews with different health care providers. The verbatim transcripts were processed using content analysis. Results. Three main themes emerged. Firstly the threat of repatriation faced by underprivileged expatriates, secondly the criticized and forgotten private health sector as a key player and thirdly the user and provider barriers faced by Omani patients in the Omani public health system. Conclusions. The study has identified some of the challenges and barriers to TB control in Oman. These challenges are mainly related to unintended negative consequences arising from the current repatriation policy of immigrants and to and the lack of involvement of the private sector in TB control. TB control strategies designed to address these challenges are needed, for Oman to reach its TB elimination targets.
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U2 - 10.1186/1472-6963-10-210
DO - 10.1186/1472-6963-10-210
M3 - Article
C2 - 20637062
AN - SCOPUS:77954546428
SN - 1472-6963
VL - 10
JO - BMC Health Services Research
JF - BMC Health Services Research
M1 - 210
ER -