Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

 

THE Kingdom has set a budget of SR100 billion for the health sector this year with an increase of 16% compared to previous year. This budget is to be spent on establishing new projects and finalizing projects pending from previous years. Over 102 new hospitals are to be constructed in the Kingdom and are expected to increase the number of beds available by 23,000. At the same time the budget has been allocated to start 5 new medical cities.



There are 420 hospitals in the Kingdom, with 58,000 beds — 58.7% of which belong to the ministry. Over 69, 000 doctors are working for the ministry, government sector bodies and the private sector, helped by 134,000 nurses, 78,000 health support staff, and over 15,000 pharmacists.



According to a report released by the Ministry of Health, the ministry employs over 33,000 doctors, 23% of which are Saudis. There are also 779,000 nurses, 51 percent of which are Saudi. The Saudi pharmacists at the ministry make up 82 percent. The number of health support staff at the ministry are over 434,000, and 87 percent of which are Saudis.



The ministry runs 251 hospitals, 2,109 health care centers, while the number of beds adds up to 34,450 — one bed is available for every 824 members of the public.



The number of doctors working for other government sectors is over 13,000, helped by 1,837 pharmacists, over 28,000 nurses, 20,000 medical support staff, with over 10,000 beds.



The private sector, however, has 130 hospitals, 2,185 medical centers, 198 clinics, 135 clinics attached to companies and 6,373 private pharmacies. The private sector offers 13,000 beds, employs 22,000 doctors, 11,000 pharmacists, 28,000 nurses, and 10,000 health support staff.



Recent studies also show that the number of medical students have exceeded to 40,000 — 48 percent of them are females.



The ministry closed last Ramadan 34 healthcare centers, which committed 172 violations and 11 pharmacies that committed 156 violations, with the ministry keeping a regular monitoring and investigations while it also issues financial compensations, stops doctors and nurses from work, and close down health care institutions to punish any violating medical establishments or pharmacies.



Among the main challenges that face the Ministry of Health this year is the coronavirus and dengue fever. Over 100 infected cases of coronavirus have been documented in the Kingdom since last September 2012, of which 47 died. WHO, meanwhile, stated that 52 died of coronavirus in the world out of 110 documented cases.



The ministry has worked with the WHO and number of specialized international centers to get familiar with the virus’s genes and features, and “studies are being done for a clearer image about the virus” stated a ministerial statement.



Coronavirus cases have been detected in a number of regions: Al-Ahsa, Dammam, Riyadh, Qassim, Bisha, Hafr Al-Batin, Taif, Wadi Al-Dawaser, Jeddah and Asir. “Underway is a survey to identify the reasons why most cases are centered in Al-Ahsa region,” added the statement.



The ministry of health has regional reference laboratories at different regions of the Kingdom, however, Jeddah has been chosen to have the national headquarter laboratory because it is close to the two holy cities. Having this headquarter is essential to accumulate experiences among workers there and also to prevent any inaccurate results, explained the statement.



The Ministry of Health has communicated with experts from inside and outside the Kingdom and with the World Health Organization since the discovery of the coronavirus. It then invited a panel of consultants from WHO to review the Kingdom’s efforts to combat the disease. It also invited experts from Columbia University and held a joint meeting with WHO delegation and experts in infectious disease from various countries.



A committee for infectious diseases and health facilities infections was formed in cooperation with various public sector bodies including the ministries of defense, education, and interior, organization for King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center and Saudi Aramco.



The ministry lately advised elderly people and patients suffering from diabetes, kidney failure, heart diseases, breathing difficulty, and cancer not to perform Haj and delay it. It also advised the pubic to take the flu vaccine especially obese people, children and pregnant women.



Ziyad Maimash, assistant undersecretary for preventive medicine, said recently that the documented coronavirus cases shall not create any fear or panic since in the past 15 months only 115 cases have been documented all around the world. His ministry, he said, follows up constantly the development of coronavirus and all researches regarding it.



The dengue fever is another threatening disease that is also documented in the Kingdom — especially in the western region. It too is a major challenge for the ministry.



According to WHO 2.5 million are under threat of getting infected with dengue fever, while 22,000 die of the disease annually.



The disease was first documented in the Kingdom in 1994 said a ministry report. However, it really spread in 2009. During the last 15 years, 10,000 cases were documented in the Kingdom while the death rate was less than 1%.



The ministry has increased its awareness campaigns to include, homes, schools, commercial centers and mosques. It has done over 192,000 visits and distributed 970,000 brochures. Awareness campaigns in Jeddah also included 80 health centers and 121 doctors said Abdul Rahman Al-Sahafi the spokesman of the health department in Jeddah.



He said that two new hospitals will start operating soon in Jeddah — one in the northern area while the other in the eastern area — and has a budget of SR241 million. He added that SR120 million is also set aside to expand the intensive care unit at King Fahd Hospital. Al-Sahafi noted that kidney center at the same hospital will be ready by next year.