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shares Dr Oumar Habiboullah, Medical Officer at the International SOS shared medical facility in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Rich in natural resources such as gas, oil, gold and copper, Mauritania attracts a number of businesses. It is a developing country where over 55% of its population lives in urban areas. The only major public hospital is in Nouakchott, the capital city, and has limited capabilities. This represents a major challenge for companies with rigorous health and safety standards, since they need to ensure access to adequate health facilities for their employees.
In 2020, International SOS partnered with International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Mauritania to establish a shared medical facility in Nouakchott. The goal was to initially provide access to evidence based medical care to employees of these IOCs, before then opening access to companies from other industries.
International SOS provided its expertise to set up the facility and has been operating it since then. Our staff at the clinic comprises of both national and international qualified doctors certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and International Trauma Life Support. The facility has all the equipment and medical supplies to provide primary and emergency care to our patients in Nouakchott. Its 24/7 emergency services are also supported by a fully equipped emergency room and an Advanced Life Support ground ambulance.
My colleagues and I are fluent in English and French. We are accustomed to working in a multinational and multicultural environment. This makes it easier for our patients to communicate with us, and for us to provide the best level of care to them.
Dr Habiboullah is a General Practitioner who worked in Sudan before moving to Mauritania. He is experienced in emergency, primary, and occupational healthcare and is on-call 24/7 at the clinic. He explains that while the clinic was initially established to service the energy industry, it now welcomes employees working in various sectors, from the mining industry to the corporate sector.
Besides primary and emergency care, the shared medical facility also provides preventative occupational health services. We conduct specific medical and fitness tests to check that individuals are in good health or fit for certain jobs. For example, before deploying their employees to offshore rigs and maritime vessels, employers want to ensure they are in good health and fit for duty. As part of this preventative approach, they then come to our clinic to get their Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) medicals done.
International SOS is currently the only provider in Mauritania offering OEUK medical check-ups. The medical team in Nouakchott is overseen by a Chief Medical Officer (CMO). The position is shared between two doctors on a rotational basis. One of them is Dr Argelia Castro. She is a physician with 30 years of experience in General Medicine, with a degree in Public Health, and one in Tropical Medicine. With Mauritania having a high burden of both communicable (e.g. malaria and tuberculosis) and non-communicable diseases as per the World Health Organisation (WHO)1, Dr Castro’s knowledge is an asset not only to her patients, but also to organisations prioritising the health of their people.
Dr Castro explains that malaria is a major public health problem in Mauritania with 80% of the population living in malaria-prone areas2. My team not only treats cases of malaria, but we also educate our patients on how to prevent contamination and the signs and symptoms to be aware of. As per the WHO, there were around 85,000 malaria cases in Mauritania in 2021. Having worked in Central America and most parts of Asia, Dr Castro is well positioned to support our clients in terms of infectious disease monitoring and control. Infectious diseases very often present similar symptoms. For international assignees who might not be very familiar with diseases such as malaria, they can sometimes ignore the symptoms until the very last minute. This is why our medical teams stress the importance of education and awareness to prevent fatalities. In most cases, prompt medical intervention or a preventive approach can prevent a worst-case scenario.
“As the CMO, the best part of my job, besides treating my patients, is the training of the medical team,” concludes Dr Castro. She leverages her long and diverse experience to mentor them, and ensures that the levels of care provided consistently align with International SOS’ standards.
For more information on how we can support your projects in Mauritania through our shared medical facility, please contact us on communications-africa@internationalsos.com.