BURAIDAH, 26 March 2005 — It seemed like a good idea to somebody. Marking the way to the health center with a giant sculpture of a hypodermic syringe certainly is thematic, but some parents and medical professional think the artists missed the point.
Blocking the negative thoughts of needles among children seems impossible at Al-Shmasiah Primary Health Care Center as a giant statue of a hypodermic needle greets every child and adult at the center’s entrance.
Al-Shmasiah is a town located 45 km east of Buraidah.
Municipal efforts to beautify the town by erecting this giant sculpture on the way to the dispensary contravene the simplest medical principles of reducing anxiety among children at the time of immunizations and health-related injections.
“Municipal workers misread the situation,” said one visitor of the center who was accompanying his 6-year-old son.
“Those workers need to attend art classes to improve their literary skills and broaden their horizons about the various impressions that may result from any piece of work,” he added. “Anyone can identify the negative meaning of this theme in the minds of children and even some adults.”
Some people just don’t like hypodermic syringes and the injections they deliver. “Needle phobia is characterized by the frightened reaction, which includes plunging blood pressure and often loss of consciousness,” said one doctor who chose to remain anonymous. “It is completely inappropriate to have this giant needle in front of the dispensary,” he added.
“It’s a waste of time and money,” said Ahmad Al-Mutairy. He added that a lot of work awaits the newly elected members of municipal councils to increase the awareness of municipal workers on the aesthetic aspects of public signage and monuments. These works are created by expatriate workers of the municipality and rarely supervised by well-educated specialists who are able to interpret the unintended negative messages of these public statues and signboards.
“These workers are only skillful of the technical side of the work itself and poorly educated in the aesthetic elements of it,” said Al-Mutairy.
An art teacher recommended that specialists be invited to help municipal employees evaluate any piece of work they intend to erect in public places and squares. “If these works are inappropriate, we are the ones to be affected by it,” said Abdullah Al-Onazy.
Small children might be adversely affected by the giant syringe, so much so that the doctor suggested using a distraction technique when coming with your child to this dispensary for an immunization.
“Use distraction to focus on something positive, such as singing, humor, talk unrelated to immunizations, and keep your child’s eye level away from the giant statue of the needle.”
