Orphans to have health insurance

The Ministry of Social Affairs will issue orphans in Saudi orphanages with health insurance cards, said Fahd Al-Issa, the ministry’s spokesman in Makkah province. The health insurance will cover over 3,000 orphans.
“We started with Riyadh Province where we covered 1,000 orphans. The health insurance company is one of the best in the world and we offer them VIP coverage,” he said. The insurance would enable orphans to receive health care in the best hospitals in the area.
The Ministry of Social Affairs intends to move many orphans from their old shelters to newer, cleaner ones in better neighborhoods. It will designate separate buildings for orphans with chronic and genetic diseases.
Fahd Al-Issa said the ministry is in the process of preparing a report on the death of an orphan in Jeddah on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr. The orphan died as a result of a diabetes seizure and was only found days later.
“The ministry will allocate building for orphans whose health conditions call for close monitoring. The buildings will be staffed with qualified personnel who can supervise these children more intensively than their current supervisors,” said Al-Issa.
He noted the dead orphan was receiving medical care and health insurance at the best hospitals in Jeddah, according to the program of the ministry which involves taking care of all orphans of the Kingdom through a contract with a renowned medical insurer.
A source at the Charity Society in Jeddah said that the forensic report confirmed that the death was a natural result of a diabetic seizure. The boy’s death occurred 12 to 24 hours before the authorities were alerted. “This is contrary to media reports that the child was dead in his own room for three days without anybody checking on him,” he added.
The source noted that orphanages have a supervisory system in place, and each supervisor has an emergency key on him. “The organization will take further supervisory measures for children with chronic diseases,” said the source.
The society released a statement to clarify the incident of the young man Muhammad, who used to live in a villa at Al-Bawadi district in Jeddah with 15 other orphans. “A special room was allocated to him on his request,” the statement said.
Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Rajeh, CEO of the society, explained in the statement that Muhammad was diabetic with a medical file at Ghassan Hospital in Jeddah. “He felt a little bit tired during the eve of Eid Al-Fitr. The manager of the house, Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, took him to the hospital and he was discharged the same day. He did not leave him until he was sure that the young man was well and feeling good,” said the CEO.
He pointed out that the young man participated in the morning-exchange of Eid greetings. “But for two consecutive days he did not participate in the Eid celebration programs,” said Al-Rajeh, adding: “Everybody was asking for him, we even called his relatives to make sure he was all right. When all efforts to contact him, even on his mobile, went in vain, we contacted Civil Defense. They broke the doors of his room only to find him dead inside.”
Al-Rajeh said that the police handed the body to hospital for further procedures. “His friends said that two days after Muhammad’s absence, a strange smell came from his room. For privacy reasons they did not enter his room. They said that his mobile was off as well,” concluded Al-Rajeh.