Muscat, Oman, 20th October 2007

Under the auspices of H.E. Dr. Abdullah Mohamed Al Futaysi, Chairman of the Oman Medical Specialty Board, Oman Oil Marketing Company is sponsoring a three day Ocular Pathology Course at Al Nahdha Hospital’s Training Hall.

Lead by guest speaker Dr. Jerman Al Qahtani, Department Chairman of Ophthalmology at the King Fahad Hospital of the Al Khobar University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the course provides a better understanding of the various advances in ophthalmology that have taken place according to recent studies. The Company’s participation reaffirms its position as one of the leading Omani fuel and lubricants marketing companies and its solid commitment to various corporate social responsibility activities in the communities it operates in.

“Our role in this course is to highlight the importance of ophthalmology as a medical specialty given that activities of the eye health programme have been managed on a regional basis since 1995 in the Sultanate with today, twenty-five ophthalmic units and nearly 60 qualified cataract surgeons,” expressed Sadiq Al Moosawi, Corporate Planning Manager at Oman Oil Marketing Company. “Oman is the only country in the region with a national register which aims to identify all cases of curable blindness, set targets for operating on curable patients and register all young people with non-curable blindness for the purposes of rehabilitation.”

Al Moosawi added, “omanoil and Al Nahdha Hospital want to offer current and future Ophthalmologists and health medical practitioners an opportunity for continued training and up-skill to enhance the current practices in the country.”

On the occasion, Dr. Al Qahtani said, “The importance of this course to current and future Ophthalmologists is to give insight of the disease process of the different parts of the eye. This helps in the correct diagnosis of all the specimens sent so that further treatment can be planned depending on the nature of the diagnosis as to whether the condition is benign or malignant.”

He added, “It is a must for all Ophthalmologists to fully comprehend the management and eye care at the tertiary level eye hospital with various specialties of Ophthalmology.”

Dr. Jerman Al Qahtani is the Chairman of the Ophthalmology Department at King Fahd Hospital at the Al Kobar University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is also an Assistant Professor at King Faisal University in Dammam. Dr. Al Qahtani is a Member of the Scientific Council Saudi Board, a Member of the Saudi Board Examination Committee and a Member of the Arab Board Examination Committee.