JEDDAH, 13 June 2007 — The rate of Saudis suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis is six percent higher than among the expatriate population, according to a medical paper presented at the recently held “Conference of Saudi Society for Thoracic Medicine and Surgery in Jeddah.”
“While 53 percent of patients affected by the dangerous disease are Saudis, 47 percent of sufferers are expatriate workers,” said Dr. Riyadh Al-Khalif, director of the Department for Combating Tuberculosis at the Ministry of Health.
Compared to 2005, there was a notable rise of 200 new cases of tuberculosis patients in 2006, said Al-Khalif. “The number of registered cases of pulmonary tuberculosis reached 2,576 in 2006. ... That means 78 people in a million are affected by the disease,” he said.
The health official said the increase does not necessarily mean there was an actual increase in the number of patients, but it could be a direct result of more people volunteering for checkups to see if they suffered from the disease following an intense awareness campaign led by the Department for Combating Tuberculosis.
Another speaker, Dr. Hajjaj, said chest diseases in the Kingdom were on the increase as was the case with several other countries despite the advancement of early detection techniques. “For instance, asthma, which has been observed to be on the increase, could be attributed to the alarming levels of environment pollution,” the doctor said. He also linked the widespread smoking habit in the Kingdom to the increase in pulmonary diseases.
Dr. Hajjaj also expressed concern about the trend of dangerous addiction to tobacco-based shisha and maasel, which are no less dangerous than smoking. The doctor lamented that Saudi women have also become habitual smokers and shisha users.
“Therefore it is imperative that intense awareness campaigns detailing the diseases caused by smoking be undertaken,” he said, adding that special emphasis should be made on tuberculosis, which is more contagious. He further said that concerned departments should keep track of the rate of incidence, undertake scientific research and introduce better diagnostic facilities and effective treatment.
