JEDDAH: The number of mentally ill people roaming the streets of Jeddah has been on the increase recently with local police referring no less than four cases to the Jeddah Psychiatric Hospital every week.
“Nobody has a clear idea of the precise number of mentally-ill people who are homeless, but their number is undoubtedly increasing,” Dr. Adnan Mufti, director of the hospital, told Arab News.
“Police often bring in many mentally ill people to the hospital after their periodic operations against illegal residents in the city. There are also cases of people who have been driven out of their homes by their relatives after showing signs of derangement. Life in the streets without treatment or care worsens their condition,” he added.
He also said there is a need to draw the attention of social workers and charity organizations to protect such people. “There is no charity or rehabilitation center to care for those who have mental problems in Jeddah. They need special care and attention from their dear ones, or, in their absence, from rehabilitation facilities. Unfortunately in many cases either their family does not want them back or they do not have any family at all,” he said.
“In such situations the psychiatric hospital, apparently, is obliged to keep them for a longer time, which in turn deprives new patients of their right to get treatment,” he added.
Mufti stressed the need for increased collaboration between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs in rehabilitating the mentally ill, particularly in a large city such as Jeddah with a population exceeding three million. The city has only one mental hospital with inpatient wards; another hospital with 200 beds is under construction.
“There is also an acute shortage of doctors specialized in treating mental illness. It is partly because medical students are reluctant to specialize in psychiatry and partly due to the lack of sufficient training facilities,” he said.
Dr. Nawaf Al-Harithy, the former director of mental health services in Jeddah who currently works in Hail, said there was no special system to coordinate the activities of various psychiatric hospitals in the Kingdom to give them a clear idea of the extent of mental diseases in the Kingdom and devise an integrated strategy to study common causes of the disease and keep them under control.
On the other hand, Dr. Sami Badawood, director of the Health Department in Jeddah, said his department could not take up roles such as looking for ill people roaming streets and keeping their count because they come under the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs. He, however, stressed that there was good cooperation between his department and various agencies providing social care.
