Dubai’s creative strategy ensures COVID-19 frontliners are never short of protective gear

Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary | Chief Reporter

A senior official has revealed how Dubai, in the battle against COVID-19, came up with innovative ways to ensure medical frontliners – who were most exposed to the deadly virus – had a steady stream of masks, shields and gloves.

The job of protecting the protectors in the crisis needed creative solutions, such as a digital dashboard of the flow of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Dr Amer Mohammad Al Zarouni, the Team Leader of the Supply Chain at Dubai’s COVID-19 Command and Control Centre (CCC), told Gulf News in an exclusive interview. Access to COVID-19 PCR kits was also a pressing demand, whose supply had to be constantly guaranteed. The only way to manage the situation was to empirically know current demand and have a solid projection for expected demand down the line, so adequate supplies could be arranged in time.

Removing uncertainty

“When it came to supply chain, the CCC had a clear strategy from the start of the pandemic and that was to remove any uncertainty of supply of critical items from the pandemic equation in Dubai. We aimed to maintain at least a six-month supply of key PPE, medical equipment and testing kits at all times,” Dr Al Zarouni said.

Filing gaps

The mammoth task of keeping track of PPE consumption led to the creation of the ‘Digital Supply Chain Portal’ to facilitate daily communication across entities in a secure and accurate manner, he added.

“By sharing critical information about the availability and consumption of critical medical items on a daily basis, the CCC was able to have a holistic picture of where there were gaps but also where there were opportunities existing in the system. The CCC was also able to pull-in the right resources in a timely manner to ensure the health system across Dubai continued to function with high-efficiency during the peak period of the pandemic.”

Community spirit

Support also came from the community, with residents and charity organisations in Dubai working under the umbrella of the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD). “These organisations worked closely with us, raising funds in support of all the CCC’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and that included support that went towards maintaining the steady supply of critical PPE, medical consumables and medical equipment needed across the healthcare sector,” said Dr Al Zarouni.

He added that the battle also saw public and private sectors collaborate in an unprecedented manner. He said the “sharing of data and resources in both directions at critical times resulted in an effective integrated approach for the health and safety of everyone residing in Dubai.”

‘Wellness on Wheels’

Another out-of-the-box idea to tie up any loose ends came in the form of ‘Wellness on Wheels’ trucks that were able to reach communities to expand the coverage of vaccination campaign, Dr Al Zarouni said. The initiative was launched by the Mohammad Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU). Dr Al Zarouni described it as a unique partnership between MBRU and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

To date, the Wellness on Wheels mobile clinics have served 31 entities and conducted home visits across Dubai, with around 66,073 doses (both first and second) administered.

Keeping up momentum

The lessons learned and milestones reached during the battle will continue to be capitalised, Dr Al Zarouni said. “Going forward, we will be working with the wider community of local and regional suppliers to be part of this [digital supply chain] network to provide an efficient and cost-effective solution for both public and private health sector,” he added.

“The pandemic has shown us that we can achieve a lot with the resources we have on hand… The health sector in Dubai, both public and private, has learned a lot from the pandemic and we need to continue to build on the successses going forward.”

Also, he added, the recent announcement of establishing the Dubai Academic Health Corporation as a testament to the synergy. The entity integrates patient care, medical education, and medical research while providing an innovative approach to endowments.