Academic and scientific research institutions in our country may be excused if they feel they are lagging behind in research and development areas or if they are unsatisfied with what they are doing to address today’s challenges and problems. The Kingdom continues to host millions of foreigners of every nationality; some are here for work, others for Haj and Umrah, and some others for business and a variety of reasons. They come from different cultural backgrounds, follow different traditions and customs and thus constitute rich sources for an endless flow of information to further research.
This is an advantage that many countries would like to have. Since these foreigners began arriving in the Kingdom in large numbers, bringing with them their diverse customs, I have not seen or heard of any research effort of any value or benefit involving them. This surely was — and is — the duty of health and education centers that are normally associated with such activities.
In England during the 1950s and 1960s, a large medical center was dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tropical diseases and travel-related infections. It became the Hospital for Tropical Diseases which serves long and short-term travelers, immigrants and the British refugee population. In addition, it provides clinical infectious disease diagnosis for other hospitals. The idea was to benefit from the presence of large numbers of Asian and African immigrants and do research on the diseases and other health problems in the areas from which the immigrants came. The hospital, serving as a unit of University College, London, provided treatment to its patients, putting London in the forefront as a teaching and research center in tropical medicine.
The question that should be asked is why we have not made any use of the large numbers of contract workers and visitors to our country to do research. We could have set up specialized health research centers and hospitals where patients from these communities would receive free medial treatment. This would allow our doctors and medical students to train and acquire experience and put us in the ranks of countries known for their teaching and research centers. London established the center because it appreciated the importance of teaching hospitals and their role in producing qualified doctors. When will we have a similar realization?
