By Ahmed Al-Sauqan

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

MADINAH – Diabetes patients have complained about a lack of blood sugar testing devices and medicines at public hospitals and said they are now forced to purchase them from pharmacies outside.

Dhafir Al-Asmari said he approached a health center to get Apidra insulin but they said it was unavailable. He was then advised to visit a specialist hospital where also he received the same reply.

He had visited four health centers seeking Apidra but could not get one. “I contacted the Health Ministry to lodge a complaint, but there was no one to receive the call,” Al-Asmari told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

Shahd M., another patient from Makkah, said she had visited a number of public hospitals and health centers in the city to get an insulin pump but failed.

"'It is not available in the store', was the reply I invariably received from all these government health facilities. The most amazing thing is that I did not receive a convincing response when I contacted the Health Ministry’s hotline number 937 to register a complaint,” she explained.

The lack of equipment and medicines has forced diabetes patients to purchase them at pharmacies paying huge amounts of money. It has also worsened the conditions of many patients who cannot pay.

“A group of patients have launched a campaign against the Health Ministry for its negligence toward them and demanding immediate action,” Shahd said.

“But the campaign did not move the ministry,” said Shahd.

She said some health awareness campaigns conducted by the ministry had created horror among patients.

A woman patient from Asir said she was supposed to check her blood sugar level eight times daily and required testing strips for the purpose. “I cannot check my blood sugar regularly due to non-availability of strips at public hospitals,” she said.

She visited the health center a few days ago but could not get strips and this has worsened her condition. She is unable to purchase it from the pharmacy as she cannot bear the cost.

Hazim Al-Hazimi, father of a diabetic child in Madinah, said he had bought a monitoring machine in the US but he was not receiving testing strips from the hospital for the last six months.

“The deputy health minister promised me to supply an advanced blood sugar monitoring equipment five months ago but we are still waiting for it,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

Al-Hazimi said he had presented complaints to several authorities, asking them to ensure adequate supply of equipment and medicines required by diabetes patients in the country.

The patients fear that non-availability of glucose monitors and insulin would worsen their condition and they urged the authorities to ensure an adequate supply quickly.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette contacted the Health Ministry’s spokesman for his reaction to the patients' complaints but he did not respond to repeated phone calls.