JEDDAH, 14 May 2008 — A number of people who have gone to take the mandatory premarital tests at medical centers in Jeddah expressed their frustration at having to wait long hours and then being turned down because of a set quota in the number of samples taken each day.
There are only two hospitals that conduct premarital tests for people living in Jeddah and nearby towns, such as Al-Laith and Rabigh.
One citizen, who did not want her name published, complained that she, along with many others, had to wait for one nurse to take their blood sample although there were four others on duty “doing nothing.”
“They could have taken our blood samples instead of letting us wait and then asking us to leave because they had completed their quota,” she said, adding that there should be more public hospitals that carry out these tests.
She added that private hospitals that undertake the tests are expensive. “I went to a private hospital to do the test after I learned that Jeddah has only two public hospitals that are authorized to make premarital medical tests,” she said.
A mother who accompanied her 21-year-old daughter expressed dissatisfaction at the behavior of staff members at the hospital. Her daughter told Arab News, “The rules were unclear. After staying for several hours, we were told to leave and come back tomorrow. I have exams and I cannot leave college a couple of times to take a blood test.”
She added, “We also have a transportation problem. My father and brother can’t leave work to pick me up, take me to hospital and wait around for a couple of hours.”
A worker at one of the hospitals, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said workers are stressed. “Many people come at the same time. We can’t serve them all. We can only take 50 samples a day, but in special cases we do take more.”
Ali Al-Farsi, assistant manager at the Public Relations and Media Department at the Ministry of Health, said there was a need to create a separate governmental body that could devote its entire potential to taking premarital medical tests. This, he said, would be better than adding more pressure on public hospitals.
According to new statistics released by the Ministry of Health and published by Al-Watan newspaper, premarital medical tests — which now include AIDS and hepatitis tests — have discovered 19 cases of AIDS and 182 cases of hepatitis.
Ibrahim Al-Omar, director general of Laboratories and Blood Banks at the Ministry of Health, said that 731,473 people have undergone premarital medical tests. He added that 4.26 percent were found to have a sickle cell trait, and 0.23 percent with sickle cell anemia. He further said that people with the thalassemia trait constitute 2.63 percent, while those affected with it are 0.076 percent.
According to specialists, early discovery of diseases would save more than $5,000 spent on each patient.
