News and Media

WCM-Q partners with UCQ and PHCC to promote immunization in Qatar

This event was the first of an ongoing series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities being delivered by WCM-Q, UCQ and the PHCC.
This event was the first of an ongoing series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities being delivered by WCM-Q, UCQ and the PHCC.

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) lent its support to a continuing professional development symposium on the topic of immunization attended by more than 60 nurses from Qatar’s Primary Health Care Centers.

The event, hosted by the University of Calgary in Qatar, featured a presentation about basic immunology and vaccine-preventable diseases by guest speaker Dr. Amal Khidir, WCM-Q associate professor of pediatrics.

WCM-Q associate professor of pediatrics Dr. Amal Khidir, right, with Dr. Deborah White, dean, University of Calgary in Qatar.

This event was the first of an ongoing series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities that the UCQ, in partnership with WCM-Q, has launched at the invitation of Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC). By the end of the year, 250 primary care nurses will have participated in this series on vaccination.

Topics presented and discussed at the symposium included the importance of vaccines in preventing illness and disease from spreading, how vaccines activate an immune response, how vaccines are developed and rigorously tested for safety, and the safe storage and handling of vaccines. Qatar’s National Immunization Guidelines and immunization schedule, along with strategies for health promotion to improve immunization rates in Qatar were also reviewed and discussed.

Dr. Khidir said: “Qatar is blessed with a very diverse multicultural context of health providers, patients and its population in general. This diversity brings with it many competencies but also leads to complexity and variability in the approach to immunization and the advice shared with patients. For this reason it is great to work alongside other health professionals to unify and standardize immunization-related practices. These modules are very hands-on and they address knowledge, skills and attitudes towards immunization, making them both effective and practical. I am honored to part of this team.”

Dr. Deborah White, dean, University of Calgary in Qatar, said: “The curriculum we are using was guided by immunization competencies for healthcare providers developed by the Canadian Public Health Agency. These were then adapted to meet the standards of the Qatar National Immunization Guidelines for vaccine providers that was released in 2017.

“This subject is very important because we need to make sure vaccine providers receive ongoing competency education. It’s a public health responsibility to ensure that healthcare providers are trained how to give vaccines and that they provide appropriate and timely information to the public.”