ObjectivesIn Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States there is limited information on national levels of mammography and Pap smear screening uptake. The aim of this study is to provide a baseline for national estimates for mammography and Pap smear screening and to explore associations between screening uptake and socio-economic factors. MethodsThe nationally representative World Health Survey+, implemented in 2008/9 in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, was used. Uptake of Mammography and Pap smear were estimated for each country, followed by the examination of associations between screening and a range of socio-economic variables. ResultsLevels of breast and cervical cancer screening uptake within recommended intervals in all countries were low. The percentages of women aged 40-75 who had a mammogram were 4.9% in Saudi Arabia, 8.9% in Oman, 13.9% in the UAE and 14.6% in Kuwait. The percentages of women aged 25-49 who had a Pap smear test were 7.6% in Saudi Arabia, 10.6% in Oman, 17.7% in Kuwait and 28.0% in the UAE. Marital status, wealth, education, nationality and place of residence are associated with screening uptake, with the lower educated, poor and unmarried having the lowest percentages of uptake. ConclusionsThe four GCC countries need to set clear targets and increase the proportion of women who have regular breast and cervical cancer screening examinations. Health education campaigns and awareness programmes that are fully integrated into the health system are required to ensure women use services that are available to prevent breast and cervical cancers.

Health care delivery in Oman has attained great heights since the modern renaissance in 1970. Although the health service had the main impetus all these years, the importance of health research began to take place by mid 1990's and is now gaining momentum as an important responsibility and activity of the Ministry of Health (MoH). Although there has been progressively increasing investment and commitment to research activities in the recent Five Year Plan for Health Development, it still lags behind in the quality and quantity of research output. Lack of factors like adequate infrastructure, dedicated human resources, empowerment of existing systems, and societal support for research have adversely affected research output. Centre of Studies and Research in MoH has proposed a strategic plan, the 'Health Vision 2050 for Health Research' with aim of making Oman the regional leader and a research hub of world standards in health research. The mission is to promote, facilitate, and conduct high quality health research addressing national health priorities to improve health care services and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system, reduce health inequity, and contribute to socioeconomic development. The strategy includes setting health research priorities, strengthening the health research capacity, defining and implementing norms and standards, developing health research (quality and quantity), translating evidence into policy, strategy and practice, monitoring and coordinating research, financing health research, and evaluating the effectiveness of the health research system. It should generate a multifold increase in the quality and quantity of health research in Oman, positively impacting the health system and health care service.

BackgroundThe Gulf Cooperation Council countries are witnessing unprecedented changes due to fast economic development and population growth. The aims of this study were twofold: first, to estimate the prevalence of diabetes and its comorbidities; second, to examine the association of sociodemographic risk factors and healthcare service utilisation with diabetes.MethodsData from the World Health Survey Plus (WHS+) from Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were used. The WHS+ is a nationally representative household survey of the adult population, conducted between 2008 and 2009. Both logistic regression and zero-inflated Poisson models were applied to examine the associations of risk factors, comorbidity and treatment with self-reported diabetes.ResultsThe highest level of diabetes was observed in Kuwait, with 40.8% among the oldest age group. High body mass index, older age and low education were all associated with diabetes in all settings. High levels of comorbidity existed within the diabetic population. Over 50% of diabetics in all countries reported having at least one chronic condition. In Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, one in five diabetics reported having two or more comorbidities. Treatment prevalence was above 80% across all sociodemographic categories.ConclusionThe burden of diabetes, although high, is not uniform across populations in the four Gulf countries. Differential exposure to risk, such as unhealthy lifestyles, may be creating a disadvantage for certain populations and influencing the co-occurrence of chronic conditions. In response, a multifaceted and patient-centred approach is needed at all levels of healthcare to control and prevent non-communicable diseases.

Background: In response to worldwide calls for the need to support evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM), more countries are increasingly interested in enhancing their efforts to use research to inform policy-making. In order to inform the efforts of those asked to lead the support of EIPM, our aim is to develop a conceptual framework to guide the process of establishing a policy support organization (PSO). Methods: We conducted a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS). We conducted a two steps literature review. In the second step, we systematically searched OVID EMBASE, PsychInfo, HealthStar, CINAHL, Web of Science, Social Science Abstract, Health Systems Evidence, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global databases for documents reporting the establishment of PSOs and the contextual factors influencing the process of establishing these organizations. We assessed the eligibility of the retrieved articles and synthesized the findings iteratively. Results: We included 52 documents in the synthesis. Our findings suggest that a PSO establishment process has four interconnected stages: awareness, development, assessment, and maturation. The process of establishing a PSO is iterative and influenced by political, research and health systems contextual factors, which determine the availability of the resources and the trust between researchers and policy-makers. The contextual factors have an impact on each other, and the challenges that arise from one factor can be mitigated by other factors. Conclusion: For those interested in establishing a PSO, our framework provides a road map for identifying the most appropriate starting point and the factors that might influence the establishment process. Leaders of such PSOs can use our findings to expand or refine their scope of work. Given that this framework focuses only on PSOs in the health sector, an important next step for research would be to include other sectors from social systems and identify any additional insight that can enhance our framework.

Background: There has been an increase in the number of policy support organizations (PSOs) that have been created to foster the systematic use of evidence in health system policymaking. Our aim was to identify approaches for establishing a PSO or similar entities by soliciting insights from those with practical experience with developing and operationalizing PSOs in real-world contexts. Methods: We used a sequential mixed method approached. We first conducted a survey to identify the views and experiences of those who were directly involved in the establishment of PSOs that have been developed and implemented across a variety of political-, health-and research-system contexts. The survey findings were then used to develop a purposive sample of PSO leaders and refine an interview guide for interviews with them. Results: We received 19 completed surveys from leaders of PSOs in countries across the WHO regions and that operate in different settings (eg, as independent organization or within a university or government department) and conducted interviews with 15 senior managers from nine PSOs. Our findings provide in-depth insights about approaches and strategies across four stages for establishing a PSO, which include: (i) building awareness for the PSO; (ii) developing the PSO; (iii) assessing the PSO to identify potential areas for enhancement; and (iv) supporting maturation to build sustainability in the long-term. Our findings provide rich insights about the process of establishing a PSO from leaders who have undertaken the process. Conclusion: While all PSOs share the same objective in supporting evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM), there is no single approach that can be considered to be the most successful in establishing a PSO, and each country should identify the approach based on its context.