I read a few days ago that the Ministry of Health intends to establish 2,000 health centers. Strangely enough, I remembered reading the same story during the term of the former minister, Dr. Osama Shubokshi. It has now resurfaced at the beginning of Dr. Hamad Al-Manie’s term as minister of health. I was surprised and wondered if 2,000 new health centers had been set up when Dr. Osama was in office. If so, does the Ministry of Health establish new centers on paper hoping that they will become reality sometime in the future? Or is it sloppy journalism that reports stories based on fantasy and imagination rather than fact? Or are there simply hopes that new health centers will be established? These hopes might become reality and so the press reports them that way.
Personally I hope that the 2,000 new health centers have already been established since there is a need for them.
I propose that the Health Ministry provide medical services at low cost to ease the pressure on clinics where people seek free medication. Those people wait long hours to see a doctor. The only alternative is to go to a private hospital where the chance of being ripped off is high with the bill between SR350 to SR450. Cheap medication is found somewhere between the free and expensive kind.
I am not trying to embarrass the Health Ministry, but a large number of big hospitals schedule appointments and transfers for patients without considering the patients’ condition. One of my relatives in fact took his mother to a private hospital which readily admitted her.
Her condition was very serious and steadily deteriorated. The approval to transfer her from the private hospital to a government one came a few hours after she died. To be fair, this happened some years ago so we will not embarrass the new health minister. The health situation, however, is not improving. It urgently needs medical, financial, technical and managerial support.
- Arab News Local Press 10 September 2003
