JEDDAH, 26 January — Saudi authorities have established a ministerial panel comprising the ministries of finance, civil service and health to devise ways of creating 21,000 jobs in the health sector within the next five years, according to Health Minister Dr. Osama Shubokshi.

He said the move is aimed at improving the public health service in general and the performance of health centers in particular. He said the ministry has been calling for new appointments to fill vacancies during the past 10 years, as the sector required about 30,000 new staff including doctors, nurses and technical staff. "The number of public health institutions has increased considerably during the past decade without a corresponding rise in the number of medical and paramedical staff. This has reduced the quality of service," he said.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting health facilities in Makkah and other holy sites, the minister emphasized the need to give more incentives to attract doctors and medical staff to work for public health facilities. "This is crucial, because public hospitals and health centers provide 70 percent of health services to Saudis," he added.

Referring to the measures taken by the government to prevent contagious diseases during the Haj season, Shubokshi said the ministry was focusing on hepatitis-B and meningitis.

"There was no cases of meningitis in the Kingdom. It entered the country through Asian pilgrims who came from Britain," he pointed out. The number of meningitis cases has risen from 20 to 200 during the past two years.

He added that the ministry was also keeping a close watch on the Ebola virus that is found in Gabon. About 30 cases of Ebola fever had been reported in the Kingdom, he said, adding that 12 people had died of the disease.

"We are contacting the World Health Organization to make sure that the pilgrims coming from Gabon are not infected," he said.

The ministry has supplied 1.5 million anti-meningitis vaccines for pilgrims as well as those working in Makkah and the holy sites during the Haj season. Shubokshi revealed that the government had recruited qualified medical staff from various countries to work during the Haj season.

"We have also recruited a complete medical team from Malaysia to improve health services during the Haj," he added.