RIYADH, 16 February — Agricultural and Water Minister, Abdullah Muammar, said the outbreak of the Rift Valley Fever in the Kingdom since last September has been brought under control largely thanks to the vast campaign implemented on a war footing with full coordination with all the concerned agencies.
"The region is considered totally clean from the causes of the disease since Dec. 24," M uammar said.
The fatal disease, which killed 122 people and affected 868 people, was first noticed on Sept. 11, 2000 in the southern province of Jizan and shortly after that in Asir. It spread in the region following heavy rains which helped the growth of mosquitoes in large numbers. No death from the disease has been reported since Feb. 6.
Over 13,000 cattlehead died from the disease while the ministry adopted protective measures such as separating the healthy cattle from the ill ones. Over 5,000 affected animals in both the provinces were killed to avoid further spread of the disease, Muammar said. The ministry also compensated farmers with SR450 for each goat killed or lost.
Health Minister Osama Shubokshi said the disease was one of the worst epidemics to hit the Kingdom in recent history. However, the total freedom from the disease will be announced only after passing 36 days without any case of the disease in the Kingdom, the minister said.
The afflition also killed a similar number of people and cattle in Yemen also.
In another development, a statistical report from the Ministry of Health revealed that there were 314 hospitals in both the government and private sectors in the Kingdom with a total of 45,729 beds. The Ministry of Health ran 186 hospitals with 27,794 beds. There are also 1,760 healthcare centers. A total of 15,215 doctors are serving in the ministry's hospitals while the number of the nursing staff is given as 38,054 with a 21,885 strong support staff. Out of the 31,000 doctors in both the government and private sectors, only 6000, are Saudis. There are also excellent hospitals and healthcare centers operated by the National Guard, Ministry of Defense and Aviation, Interior Ministry and universities which are accessible to the public also. The number of private hospitals in the Kingdom is put at 90 with 9,000 beds. In addition to 700 polyclinics, 800 clinics, 43 laboratories and 3,200 pharmacies, the study said. (SPA)
