Earth Scientists Categorize Meteorites

Transcription

1 Earth Scientists Categorize Meteorites Department of Public Relations and Information Sultan Qaboos University News Update Imperial Barrel: SQU Team Bags Regional Award Mind Over Matter The English Language Area of the GFPs in Oman Panorama Enriching Experience for German Researcher at SQU Issue 265 Horizon-265.indd 3 4/1/13 12:16:16 PM

2 View Point Getting Involved with the Media Does academic research need publicity through media? Being a media publication, Horizon, would always stand for optimum publicity for all the activities of the university in various spheres such as teaching, research, community service and internationalization. Are all researchers willing to publicise their research through the print or electronic media? The answer is no. For what reasons? The main point to be highlighted here is that some academics are wary of getting involved with the media for fear their research will be dumbed down or misrepresented. Mohamed Salem Al Ghailani Editorial Supervision Humaid Abdullah Al Adwani Editor in Chief Santhosh Muthalath Senior Editor Najah Al Harthi Design & Layout Rashad Al Wahaibi & Photography Dept., CET Photography Basheer Al Riyami & Salim Al Sudairi Before we address this issue, it is worth considering the benefits of publicising the work of researchers. Publicity helps to increase the profile of one s research and will add to the reputation of the institution or the research centre. From an individual point of view, greater individual profile can help career progression of the researcher. Publicity may also attract more funding bodies to support related research in future. As the university is giving importance to the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, stimulating industry awareness through media can lead to greater knowledge transfer, consultancy and partnership opportunities with industry. This will lead to increased public engagement opportunities. What about the research being dumbed down or misrepresented in the media? In the view of Horizon, this rarely happens as most journalists are very knowledgeable in their respective field. Beyond that, the researcher can work hard to ensure fair coverage and always ensure the information provided to the press is accurate. It is also important to translate complex information into accessible and punchy copy without sacrificing accuracy. Keeping a good link with the in-house press team can help the academic better communicate their research activities to the local or regional media. Rapport with the in-house press team will help them to make sure that the information provided to the press is accurate. Abstaining from publicity for research and other community service activities for fear of being misrepresented can never be regarded as a judicious decision. Distribution Horizon invites contributions from SQU members of staff and faculty. Contributions in the form of articles, news, travelogues, stories of unique and interesting experiences, encounters, etc., are welcome. Contributions may be edited for the sake of clarity and length. Please send your contributions to horizon@squ.edu.om preferably, as MSWord attachments. Authors will be suitably credited. The views and opinions expressed in the articles published in this newsletter are those of the authors and are not to be construed as the official views of the publication. Horizon is published three times a month by the Department of Public Relations and Information, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 50, P.C. 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Phone: Fax : horizon@squ.edu.om Website: P2 30 March 2013 Horizon-265.indd 4 4/1/13 12:16:16 PM

3 News Update Symposium Addresses Policy-Research Divide Imperial Barrel: SQU Team Bags Regional Award As many as 460 participants from 13 countries attended the Fourth Annual Gulf Comparative Education Society Symposium, sponsored by UAE based Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, and hosted by The College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University. The opening ceremony of this three day symposium was held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Muna bint Salim Al Jardania, Undersecretary for Technical Education & Vocational Training at the Ministry of Manpower. A total of 71 papers both in English and Arabic were presented during the last two days of the symposium. Commenting on the theme of the symposium Bridging the policyresearch divide in education in the GCC, Hon. Dr. Thuwayba Al Barwani, Dean of the College of Education, said: Time is ripe for us to have meaningful deliberations on the impact that our research has on policy direction in our societies. As academics, we carry out research and disseminate our work in journals, and other platforms. The question that we should ask ourselves is how much of the research we do really make a difference?. She added that researchers should address the question how much of the policies taken by policy makers are based on the researches that academics do?. Dr. Natasha Ridge, Member of the Executive Board of the Gulf Comparative Education Society, who spoke on behalf of the Society, said that when the first edition of the symposium was held in Ras Al Khaimah, the number of participants were around 100. We are delighted by the overwhelming response to the call of papers. The preconference workshop was helpful to build capacity of the regional researchers. This was extremely well attended with over 40 people coming for a full day to learn more about research methods, she said. Commenting on the theme of the symposium, Dr. Ridge said: We have a lot of research being undertaken by both public and private entities and individuals, but we see too little of that research used to inform education policy making in the Gulf region. In the opening ceremony, Dr. Fernando Reimers from Harvard Graduate School of Education, gave the first keynote on the topic Learning from the facts: can educational research inform policy and practice? He analyzed some of the challenges facing schools of education to influence the practice of education and the profession and suggested options that can reframe the research enterprise with a more direct and deliberate intend to inform the nexus between policy and practice. Dr. Remiers examined the options offered by emerging technologies to formalize and disseminate knowledge from practitioners, to support the improvement of educational practice and of research. SQU students team has won a well-deserved first place in the regional level (Middle East) of the Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) competition held in Abu Dhabi on March 14, The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) holds annually the global Imperial Barrel Award (IBA), which is regarded as the world-cup in geoscience and petroleum engineering applications for hydrocarbon prospect evaluation and exploration, and drilling risk analysis. The SQU team, having won first place in the Middle East, is qualified to compete globally at the AAPG s IBA global competition to be held on May 18, 2013, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. The SQU team consists four Earth Science students: Mona Bader Hilal Zaher Al Kharusi, Fatma Rashid Abdullah Hamdan Al Zaabi, Abeer Abdullah Salam Salim Al Saifi,and Bushra Humaid Bashir Humaid Al Mamari; and one Petroleum Engineering student: Marwan Sulaiman Mohammed Al Sawafi and supervised by Dr. Abdelmoneam Raef from the Earth Science Department of the College of Science. Dr. Abdelmoneam Raef said that this competition tests students skills and knowledge as relating to integrating a multi-dataset for an area with challenging hydrocarbon prospect identification and evaluation tasks. The SQU students team demonstrated world class skills and data analysis of this year s AAPG-IBA regional competition. A panel of independent judges from oil and gas industry unanimously voted the SQU-team for the first place for the Middle East region. In the global IBA event in Pittsburg, PA, USA, the SQU team would be representing the Middle East region. Four hydrocarbon prospects were identified and evaluated in the 2013-IBA basin evaluation area, by the SQU team based on analysis of three-dimensional and two-dimensional seismic datasets, geophysical well-logs, and other subsidiary data and background information from scientific literature. The technical support provided by the academic and technical staff from the Department of Earth Science of the College of Science and the Department of Petroleum & Chemical Engineering of the College of Engineering, contributed substantially to the success of the team at regional level. The team also received support from technical staff at Petroleum development of Oman (PDO), and at Schlumberger-Oman. All the SQU team members are undergraduate students who competed against graduate level students in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Reaf said that the success of the team at IBA substantiates that the curricula of the Earth Sciences and the Petroleum Engineering programs prepare students to a level of world-class caliber. We hope that we will win the global level of the completion and preparations are underway in a systematic manner, he said. 30 March 2013 P3 Horizon-265.indd 7 4/1/13 12:16:31 PM

4 Insight Earth Scientists Categorize Meteorites also of the neighboring planets and satellites such as the Mars and the Moon. Dhofar, is also emerging as an important area for meteorite collections. Prof. Subhi Nasser said that one Martian and two Moon meteorites have been found in Dhofar so far among a host of other precious extraterrestrial rocks. Dhofar-081, a lunar meteorite, was found on 29 November The presence of a rare Martian meteorite, namely Sayh al Uhaymir 094 (SaU 094) in a central Oman desert, and many other rare rocks confirmed that the meteorite density in interior Oman is unusually high more than one meteorite per square kilometer, he revealed. The Office of the Advisor to HM the Sultan for Cultural Affairs has a collection of more than 100 different meteorites. SQU is collaborating with the Office of the Advisor to HM the Sultan for Cultural Affairs and with the Alberta University, Canada, for uncovering the secrets inherent in the Omani meteorites. Meteorites are the fossils from which geologists recover the history of our solar system. A major thrust of SQU s research project is to learn classify Omani meteorites, and characterize these meteorites through detailed mineralogical, isotope and geochemical study. Specialist studies will determine their textures, compositions and ages using the latest in high technology. Google Satellite image showing the main locations and distribution of the Omani meteorites The desert plains in southern and central Oman are a favorable area for the collection of many rare specimens. The gravel plains in the Dhofar and Al Wusta regions of Oman, south of the sandy deserts of the Rub al Khali, had yielded about 5,000 meteorites as of mid Included among these are a large number of lunar and Martian meteorites, making Oman a particularly important area both for scientists and collectors. Prof. Subhi Nasser, Head of the Department of Earth Science, Sultan Qaboos University, along with colleagues from Oman and Canada has initiated a research project, funded by His Majesty s Strategic Research Trust Fund, which involves characterizing and classifying a collection of Omani meteorites through detailed geochemical, mineralogical and petrological analysis. 17 Samples collected and analyzed Prof. Subhi Nasser said that the research group was able to carry out a detailed study on 17 meteorite samples in collaboration with Dr. Chris Herd and Dr. Graham Pearson from the University of Alberta. Detailed petrographic, geochemical, mineralogical and textural studies have been done for these samples. We were able to classify these meteorites and assigned official names for each one. These names have been approved by the Meteorite Society. This is an essential step in recognizing these meteorites internationally and will enable us to publish the result in the future, he said. Prof. Subhi Nasser said that meteorites are the remnant fragments from the formation of the Solar System. By examining a meteorite, we are looking at the chemical composition of the solar system as it was being born. In recent years Oman has been identified one of the world centers of meteorite discovery. In 2011, the Sultanate contributed around 14 % of all the world s meteorite finds excluding Antarctica, he added. Scientists are still building their knowledge of our planet and solar system thanks to Omani meteorite finds. The broad spectrum of Oman meteorites and their exceptional preservation make them key research tools that can enhance our understanding of the beginning of the Solar System. The discovery of several rare meteorites, including a host of Martian and Lunar rocks, in the deserts of Oman recently has lent international recognition to the Sultanate as a promising destination for scientific study. The idea of discovery of, and research on meteorites in Oman s deserts came about following the recovery of 142 meteorites in a two-week expedition to Oman s deserts of central and southern region, organized by the Ministry of Commerce in January The expedition concluded that Oman could justifiably boast some of the largest and most spectacular meteorite collection areas in the world. The central and southern deserts of Oman are flat, making them relatively easy for meteorite-searchers to explore, while the sand and carbonate rocks that bound in the desert landscape, being light in color, also provide a contrast to the dark color that characterize meteorites. Since the year 2000, several precious meteorites have been discovered in Oman. The most prized finds among them were Martian meteorites, which have opened a window on the red planet. Martian meteorites from Oman deserts offer new and extremely cost effective avenues for research on the red planet until Mars Odyssey 2001 successfully brought some rocks from the red planet after about 10 years on its return to the Earth. Initial surveys show that the many precious rocks found in Oman are a treasure house of not only the earth s geological history but P4 30 March 2013 Horizon-265.indd 8 4/1/13 12:16:34 PM

5 Mind Over Matter The English Language Area of the GFPs in Oman The General Foundation Programmes (GFPs) are currently on offer across all public and private higher educational institutions in the Sultanate of Oman with a view to developing Omani students literacy and learning skills, and preparing them for their future academic studies. The GFPs are designed to prepare students for the post-secondary and higher education studies and it precedes the first formal year of higher education study. It is only required for students who do not otherwise meet all the entrance criteria for the first year of their post-secondary and higher education. They are aimed at developing literacy, numeracy and computing and learning skills, allowing Omani students a pathway into their institutions and preparing them for future academic studies. The GFPs are implemented in pursuant to a decision of Oman s Higher Education Council and the Ministry of Education. The Language Centre at Sultan Qaboos University plays a key role in administering, implementing and reviewing the Foundation Programme due to its years of experience in improving the English language proficiency of the students at the university. The Centre has a research project that investigates and reviews the experiences, challenges and prospects of the English language area of the General Foundation Programs in Oman. As part of this project, the researchers compiled and co-edited a book of academic nature that provides an account of current learning in GFPs in Oman and it includes descriptive, analytical and empirical research papers covering a wide range of experiences, ideas, methodologies and trends. The project was conducted under the auspices of the Humanities Research Centre and funded by an internal research grant from Sultan Qaboos University. significance of foundation programmes in the overall education system is too important to ignore. It is expected that the book will lead to tangible benefits such as motivating stakeholders, modifying learning strategies, classroom management techniques, alternative assessment methods and increased awareness of the responsibilities of the educational community, parents, and students toward high quality tertiary education in the Sultanate of Oman. Dr. Victoria Tuzlukova, one of the editors of the book General Foundation Programmes in Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman: Experiences, Challenges and Considerations for the Future said that the book is of interest for anyone who wants to know more about education at the tertiary level in Oman. I think it is useful for people who work in education as well as community members who want to understand what issues are being discussed in the field, she said. The book has been published by Mazoon Press & Publishing and copies have been supplied to college and university libraries in Oman and worldwide. Copies of the book will also be available at the Oman International ELT Conference at Sultan Qaboos University in April 16 18, The proceeds from these sales will go to the Children Charity Centre in Al Khoud. The book was exhibited at the recently concluded Muscat International Book Fair. Above all, this book is one of major outputs depicting the research orientation of the Language Centre at Sultan Qaboos University. The book titled General Foundation Programmes in Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman: Experiences, Challenges and Considerations for the Future and edited by Dr. Saleh Al Busaidi, Director of Language Centre, and Dr. Victoria Tuzlukova, Head of Professional Development & Research Unit at the Language Centre, deals with the current state and considerations on the further development of GFPs in post-secondary education in the Sultanate. It aims at providing an account of educational practices, ideas, methodologies, institutional and individual experiences, challenges, trends and directions of the GFPs. The book consists of four parts and 18 chapters. Part 1 explores the issues of development, management and administration of GFPs in Oman. It includes chapters related to research concerning adaptation, evolution and considerations for the future or these programs of study. Part 2 deals with the GFPs curricula, methods and techniques. It is composed of six chapters that provide essential information for systematic and effective evaluation of the existing methodologies and the use of this information for improvement. The emphasis of the six chapters in Part 3 is on students and teachers. They centre around research on the stakeholders of the GFPs. Part 4 focuses on testing and assessment. Three chapters found in this part represent a wide array of issues dealing with testing procedures and criteria, as well as the impact of these issues on the GFP students. Overall, the book approaches the GFPs from diverse perspectives. At the same time it shares a common understanding of the significance of these programmes for the continued development of higher education in the Sultanate of Oman. The book will serve as a valuable resource and a reference guide for the comprehensive presentation of coverage of GFPs in the Sultanate. The book was brought out from the contributors conviction that a published source on GFPs in the country can become a source of knowledge, inspiration and ideas for approaching problems and solving them. It affords the opportunity to build upon approaches and methods of other institutions and individual teachers as the 30 March 2013 P5 Horizon-265.indd 9 4/1/13 12:16:35 PM

6 News Round Up Nursing Group Holds Nursing Student Week SQU Observes Water Day The students from the College of Nursing at SQU, represented by the Nursing Group organized the Nursing Student Week with a number of activities spreading awareness on health promotion and disease prevention. The formal opening of the activities were held under the patronage of Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Hinai, Environment Affairs & Community Service Advisor to the Vice Chancellor of SQU. The highlight of the event was an exhibition featuring five stations to highlight the importance of health promotion and disease prevention. Through the stations, the group members spread awareness on the importance of mental health, family health, physical activities and sports. One corner was earmarked for shedding light on nutrition and healthy food and methods of calculating of body composition to take preventive measures to control obesity ill-health in future. Counseling by experts from the Student Counseling Centre at SQU, fruit arrangement competition, premarital genetic screening, basic yoga training sessions for nursing students, etc. were other highlights of the activities. SQU and MECA to Boost Joint Activities While media reports of international waters often focus on conflict, what has been more encouraging is that, throughout the world, water also induces cooperation, even in particularly hostile basins, and even as disputes rage over other issues, said Prof. Aaron Wolf, Professor of Geography in the Department of Geosciences at Oregon State University. Prof. Wolf was giving a talk on Shared Waters: Conflicts and Cooperation at a workshop jointly organized by the Water Research Centre at SQU, and the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources on the occasion of World Water Day Water related cooperation has been true from the Jordan (Arabs and Israelis) to the Indus (Indians and Pakistanis) to the Kura-Araks (Georgians, Armenians, and Azeris). Despite research that finds repeatedly and empirically that water-related cooperation overwhelms conflict over the last fifty years, prevailing theories fail to explain this phenomenon, said Prof. Wolf. Every year, SQU observers World Water Day in cooperation with the Ministry of Regional Municipalities & Water Resources. This year, the workshop on Water cooperation towards resource sustainability was held under the patronage of H.E. Eng. Ali bin Mohammed Al Abri, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Regional Municipalities & Water Resources for Water Resources Affairs. Dr. Osman Abdalla, Director of Water Research Centre at SQU, who delivered the welcome address, underscored the importance of the theme of the World Water Day 2013, namely water cooperation. The papers discussed in the workshop disseminated knowledge and shared the experience on different aspects of water cooperation. In the opening ceremony, a video on water resources in Oman, prepared by the Ministry, was screened. Students Honoured The Deanship of Student Affairs recently organized a function to honour a group of 430 students from all the nine colleges of the university for outstanding performance in academic and extracurricular activities. The ceremony was held under the patronage of H. E. Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, the Vice Chancellor, who also opened an exhibition showcasing the students annual trip for the year 2012 to China, Hong Kong and South Korea. The Joint Committee of SQU and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) held a meeting headed by H.E. Dr. Ali bin Saud Al-Bimani SQU Vice-Chancellor and H.E. Mohammed bin Khamis Al-Araimi MECA Undersecretary and members of the committee.the meeting discussed a number of key topics including participation in symposia, conferences, workshops and training programmes, and participation in certain research projects that are implemented by the two sides in the climate change and its impacts on different sectors and renewable energy applications. The annual overseas trip for students at SQU is funded by a grant from His Majesty, the Sultan. Last year a total of 76 students had the opportunity to participate in the 15th overseas trip. The male students visited South Korea whereas the female batch visited Hong Kong and People s Republic of China. The meeting also discussed implementation of joint research and studies between the two sides in the study of climate change impacts and the development of national policies and strategies for climate change, conservation of land and marine environment, and oil spill dispersion of pollutants and methods of identifying and controlling them. P6 30 March 2013 Horizon-265.indd 6 4/1/13 12:16:20 PM

7 Panorama Enriching Experience for German Researcher at SQU By: Santhosh Muthalath Nicole Schwartz is a PhD scholar from the Institute of Chemistry & Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) at the University of Oldenburg in Germany. She spent three months at SQU s Department of Marine Sciences & Fisheries (MSF, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences), doing field and lab experiments pertaining to her PhD project attempting comparison of native and invasive species in marine environments. Nicole s training in Oman was facilitated by DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service, which deals with German and international students and researchers. At SQU, Nicole was supervised by Dr. Sergey Dobretsov, Associate Professor in the MSF Department. During winter, it is difficult to conduct field experiments on algae and other marine organism in Europe due to the cold weather and associated snow fall. However, in Oman, the situation is just the opposite: this is the best time to do field experiments in marine environments. SQU has a well-equipped Marine Science laboratory and qualified researchers and technicians. This is the reason why Nicole decided to take a short break from her institute from December to February and master some new techniques and do field experiments in a tropical environment. Invasive species means an alien species whose introduction causes environmental harm or harm to human health. Invasive species are one of the largest threats to our terrestrial, coastal and freshwater ecosystems, as well as being a major global concern. I am investigating if there is any chemical defense mechanism in invasive species of marine organisms that make them spread all over the world so quickly. Invasive species are spreading very rapidly in marine environments across the oceans compared to related native species which are found in certain areas alone. There must be some reason for this phenomenon. As part of my doctoral project, I am investigating special traits of invasive species enable them to spread all over the world, replacing native species and changing ecosystems, Nicole said. Adding to the comments of Nicole, Dr. Sergey Dobretsov said that Oman is continuously under the threat of invasive species due to the fact that more than 30 percent of the world s oil is transported by sea though the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman. Oil vessels can be a significant pathway for the introduction or spread of invasive species through the discharge of ballast water containing invasive species or the transport of invasive species that have accumulated as biofouling on ships hulls. Oman is expected to have a representation of both invasive and native species in Oman, he said. Nicole is fortunate enough to have more access to the marine environment in Oman to do field studies. She did a lot of lab work and compared the results with field observations. Nicole believes that it was a very good opportunity to come to Oman in winter and do a lot of field work. Nicole further said that at SQU she could learn and do a lot of new techniques, such as thin layer chromatography, investigation of quorum sensing (chemical language) in bacteria, testing anti-microbial activity using a micro plate reader, conduction of larval settlement bioassyas in addition to counting bacteria using an epifluorescent microscope. I look forward to work on these techniques and methods further in my institute in Germany, she said. Dr. Sergey Dobretsov hopes to establish long term research ties with the Institute of Chemistry & Biology of the Marine Environment at Oldenburg University. He added, I hope Nicole Schwartz s visit would be the first step in building a long term partnership of collaborative projects and student and faculty exchanges between the two institutions. Nicole is leaving SQU with good memories to cherish. This is a good experience for me. SQU is a great university with good labs and extremely helpful people. I was very comfortable in Oman. I would love to come back to Oman and work under a great supervisor like Dr. Dobretsov. Under his supervision, I did a lot more experiments than I did in Germany, she said. Meanwhile, Nicole has a suggestion to university authorities to provide efficient housing and accommodation arrangements and services to international exchange students and researchers. 30 March 2013 P7 Horizon-265.indd 5 4/1/13 12:16:18 PM

8 Straight Talk Sir Liam Donaldson Sir Liam Donaldson is a global leader in public health and healthcare quality and safety. His current roles within the UK include: Chancellor of Newcastle University, and Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College, London. From 1998 to June 2010, Sir Liam was Chief Medical Officer for England and the United Kingdom s Chief Medical Adviser. As the Government s Chief Medical Officer, he served six Health Secretaries. Internationally, Sir Liam served on World Health Organization s Executive Board and conceived of, founded, and led the World Alliance for Patient Safety, an initiative that moved action on safety to a global scale. Sir Liam is the author of over 190 papers in peer-reviewed journals and a standard textbook of public health. Sir Liam delivered the keynote on Patient Safety: A Call to Action at the Second GCC International Conference on Patient Safety, hosted by SQU Hospital. Horizon: How would you underscore the growing importance of patient safety in healthcare sector? Sir Liam: Patient safety implies averting preventable harm to a patient during health care and it affects every health care system. It involved efforts to prevent harm, caused by the process of health care itself, from occurring to patients. Patient safety has been studied extensively all over the world and they have shown that someone in every 10 patients suffers from some kind of medical error during the process of health care. Over the past ten years, patient safety has been increasingly recognized as an issue of global importance, but much work remains to be done. Horizon: What are the future initiatives from WHO to ensure more patient safety in health care organizations in GCC countries? Sir Liam: The Gulf countries have already done a lot with regard to patient safety. The policy makers and health care professionals in these states have already shown their commitment towards patient safety and reduction of health care risks. In future, WHO is going to see more initiatives for education and training for medical and nursing professionals. Medication safety is another challenge to meet with. WHO is keen to work with the GCC countries and Oman in further improving the patient safety standards. The Sultanate of Oman has been very conscientious in implementing WHO guidelines on patient safety with impressive commitment and leadership. Horizon: In your keynote address, you attempted a comparison of patient safety management with the Dabbawalas of Mumbai who deliver meals prepared in customers homes to their offices and return empty dabbas (lunch boxes) in the afternoon. What prompted you to make such a comparison? Sir Liam: The hundreds of Dabbawalas in the city of Mumbai have an amazing service record. Every working day they transport tens of thousands of lunchboxes throughout Mumbai, the world s fourth-most-populous city. That entails conducting upwards of 260,000 transactions in six hours each day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year, but mistakes are extremely rare. A poorly educated, decentralized workforce perform so beautifully in an environment that is unpredictable and challenging. They achieve a six-sigma level of performance (i.e. a very low error rate). I compared patient safety management with the Dabbawalas for the greater standardization of process and the culture of excellence and teamwork. However, any comparison has differences. The medical field is highly complicated and deals with seriously ill patients. Horizon: Cleanliness of hands and safe surgery procedures are two important program areas of WHO in ensuring patient safety. Could you elaborate? Sir Liam: Florence Nightingale, who was assigned to help the wounded soldiers of Crimean War in Turkey, emphasised the importance of cleanliness in medical stations. She realised that the condition of the medical stations was poor with awful medical and sanitary conditions. She was an advocate for cleanliness in hospitals. In the1980s complacency set in with the belief that antibiotics could kill all germs causing infection. Hence basic hygiene procedures fell away. Resistance to antibiotics has developed so the importance of having basic hygiene in hospitals is more important than ever. Dirty hands pass infection from one person to another. Hence hand hygiene is important and this can be achieved by using alcohol based gel before every medical procedure or when touching patients. Use of hand cleaning gels is very convenient compared to the traditional method of using soap and water to clean hands when work basins may not be close at hand WHO is also promoting safe surgery by introducing a surgical safety check list to be followed by hospitals across the world. Horizon: In your view, what patients can do to ensure patient safety in hospitals? Sir Liam: The one is an imbalance of power between the patient and doctor. However, patients need to be braver and bolder to ask difficult questions to the medical professionals. For instance a patient should have the boldness to fearlessly ask the doctor Have you washed your hands? Likewise, before choosing a hospital, a patient can make sure that the hospital conforms to sound patient safety standards. If patients decide to choose only those hospitals having a good patient safety track record, other hospitals will have to improve their safety standards. Horizon-265.indd 2 4/1/13 12:16:15 PM