41
READING
11
Match the women to their achievements.
1
Fatima bint Ali Al-Zayani?
2
Dr Layla Ahmed Abdulrahman?
3
Dr Nada Abbas Hafadh?
4
Dr Fawzia Kamal?
a
Bahrain's first female Health Minister
b
Bahrain's first female pharmacist
c
First female Bahraini radiologist
d
Bahrain's first female nurse
12
Read the online article about Dr Mariam Al
Jalahma and note down what the following refer to.
60% 51% 90% 73.3 78.3
13
Read the article again and decide which three of
the following could be subheadings (to attract online
readers to read the article).
1
An inspirational Bahraini woman.
2
Medicine in Bahrain today.
3
Improving healthcare in Bahrain.
4
Women's role in Bahrain's health service.
5
Diseases and their causes in Bahrain.
14
a
Make notes on the key points in the article. Make
sure you cover the following main topics.
•
facts and figures about women working in Bahrain's
health service
•
issues that Dr Al Jalahma has discussed
•
the future for women in Bahrain
14
b
Retelling a story
Work with a partner and retell
the story in your own words.
SPEAKING
15
Work in groups. What do you hope for Bahrain, in
terms of health and society? Discuss your hopes for the
next fifty years.
I hope Bahrain will have eradicated polio in the next
few years and I also hope Bahrain will have improved
opportunities for women.
Women in Bahrain now play a
huge role in the country’s health
service. According to 2017
government figures, nearly 60%
of doctors working for Bahrain’s
Health Ministry are women. 90%
of nurses are women and 51%
of supervisory positions are held
by women too. These facts were
reported by Dr Mariam Adhbi
Al Jalahma, Bahrain’s first ever
female Health Ministry assistant
undersecretary, at an event to
mark Bahraini Women Day.
Dr Al Jalahma was appointed in 2015 as Chief Executive
of the National Health Regulatory Authority by King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Dr Al Jalahma also worked as a
consultant for the World Health Organisation and was a
member of the executive board of health ministers in the
Gulf Coperation Council countries responsible for health
developments in the gulf region.
Her work involves finding ways to improve the health
serviced and maintain people's health. As a consultant
of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, she has
participated in discussions about how to combat chronic
diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer,
besides preventing infectious diseases such as tuberculosis
and hepatitis. She has also looked at the problem of
counterfeit medicines, issues related to ageing populations,
nutrition and the availability of vaccinations. Another
important aspect of Dr Al Jalahma's work was in the
prevention of smoking, she worked extensively to prevent
smoking in public places and opened antismoking clinics
in primary acre and was the president of the Antismoking
Society in Bahrain. In 2011, she was awarded by WHO for
her antismoking efforts in Bahrain.
At the GCC meeting in Saudi Arabia in 2015, delegates
discussed ways of funding treatment, drugs and medical
equipment and the implementation of health insurance to
raise funds and make universal health coverage possible.
Dr Al Jalahma noted that prevention is much cheaper and
better than cure and stressed the importance of focusing
efforts on the early detection of diseases with regular check
ups for everyone.
All these efforts are helping to improve health care in
Bahrain. More and more old people are benefitting
from home visits by medical staff and life expectancy for
women has risen from 73.3 years in 2003 to 78.3 in 2013.
Mortality rates during childbirth have also been reduced.
Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim
Al Khalifa, the chairwoman of the Supreme Council
for Women praised the role of women in the Bahrain
health service. She said that although there had been
achievements in empowering women, there was still more
to do. She said that there was a need to help fulfil the
ambitions of young women, involve them in all areas of life
and encourage them to make a positive contribution to the
country’s future.
Women like Dr Mariam Adhbi Al Jalahma give every
female in Bahrain a role model they can look up to and in
whose footsteps they can follow.
n
MEET THE EXPERT
Watch an interview with Dr Tina
Chowdhury, a lecturer in Musculoskeletal
Science, about medical bionics.
Turn to page 151 for video activities.
