Taking care of one’s body, mind and spirit is very important if a person wants to live life vigorously. A large group of people in our society don’t believe in maintaining their health unless there are symptoms that indicate the need for medical help. This belief is the root of all chronic diseases that develop due to negligence and become a health hazard that could have been avoided.
In most cases, women come to the hospital suffering horrible diseases they could have avoided if they had visited the doctor at the first signs of abnormality. However, the percentage of men who are not keen on visiting the hospital is much higher than women. That’s mainly because women tend to visit hospitals due to pregnancy, maternity, fertility and breast-feeding issues. They undergo certain tests or examinations so a disease or illness can be discovered by chance. As for men, they usually prefer to rely on their manhood to cure the symptoms rather than go to a physician.
This unwillingness or reluctance to go to a doctor is not limited to the old. Even young people tend to neglect checking on their health because of their hectic work schedules or responsibilities. And going by my experience in the health sector, I have never witnessed any efforts dedicated to this cultural problem. There is no clear educational or practical plans to control or eliminate these habits.
One of the things that caught my attention when I was in the US was having hotlines available for medical advice by specialized consultants 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What was so good about this service is that it respects the caller’s privacy. It also spares people the hassle of visiting the hospital, especially at odd hours (midnight for example) or under special circumstances such as a woman who has just given birth and is having worries about her infant. The hotline service would also help anyone who suffers from sudden attacks or symptoms, not knowing how to deal with them, not having the time to visit the doctor or perhaps not being certain about some medication and wanting to know what to do.
When the person calls the hotline, he speaks first to the nurse who registers the case’s date and nature and then if she’s familiar with the illness, she tries to help the caller. But if she can’t help, she uses her electronic database to look for the symptoms and how to deal with them. Also, a doctor would interact with the caller if it were an emergency. However, rarely are the doctors called because the nurses are highly trained and qualified to provide help. In addition to the hotlines, there are free numbers at each hospital where the patient can contact and receive the appropriate medical advice.
Initiating a national medical center that provides such free service would have a great impact on the country. These hotlines would be a big help to all social classes here. How many women are out there who want to visit the doctor but who lack transportation? And how many men are suffering from chronic diseases but tight work schedules prevent them from looking after their health? These hotlines are also a practical and easily applicable idea for employing Saudis. There are nurses, consultants and doctors, both male and female, who would find in this job a chance to help others. They would also find an easy way of making money.
The center could also provide a hotline dedicated to dealing with cases of poisoning so that the caller receives suitable advice for dealing with the poison whether it comes from a medicine, a snake, a scorpion, a chemical substance or skin burns. This type of hotline would save so much time, taking into account that the patient needs to be helped as soon as possible. With a hotline service available, the patient’s family or friends could provide first aid until he or she reaches the hospital to be treated medically. And there are lots of children’s poisonings that occur at home when there is no transportation available. Here’s when the phone medical consultation is urgently required.
Our country doesn’t lack the open-minded leadership or the financial resources. Therefore, I believe what could exist in developed countries ought to be available here, especially since we’re undergoing general development in all sectors.
— Dr. Maha Al-Hujailan is a medical researcher at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh.
