JEDDAH: Right after Eid Al-Adha, the Ministry of Social Affairs will start distributing the medical insurance cards to male and female orphans who are under the care and sponsorship of charities, a local newspaper reported.

The step comes ahead of the process to bring all orphans under medical insurance coverage in accordance with a time-bound plan developed by the ministry.

Tens of thousands of orphans are expected to benefit from this move across the Kingdom. In the Eastern Province alone, about 13,000 orphans will benefit from medical insurance, which will cover the costs of the majority of diseases.

In a circular distributed lately to all the branches, the ministry directed the charities to provide the birth certificate of the beneficiary, the identification card, a letter from the charity endorsed by the seal of the Ministry of Social Affairs or the office of social supervision for those who do not have in their possession identification documents. Some charities said a number of orphans had already started applying for medical insurance. A total of 22 charities in the Eastern Province started developing lists of the names of orphans under their care prior to submitting the names to the branch of the ministry in the region.

The director of one charity was quoted as saying to the local media: “The charity addressed the orphans under its care to provide us with the required documents. The lists of names will soon be ready for the issuance of medical insurance cards which, as the ministry informed us, will be issued soon after Eid Al-Adha.”

Nora Abdulmohsein, a charity supervisor, said the decision to provide medical insurance will only cover those orphans who lost mothers and fathers and not those with special circumstances. “We tried so much to avoid crowding these past days by putting this announcement on the doors of the charity,” she noted.

She said many orphans thought the decision is not correct, adding: “We contacted them with text messages to explain the mechanisms to receive their papers.”

A number of orphans included in this new medical service said they face hardships to get treatment at hospitals because they are not covered with medical insurance, especially those who lost their fathers and cannot provide the employer’s name for medical insurance purposes.

“Because of no medical insurance, my little sister almost died after she got first level burns. However, a philanthropist extended help and financial assistance,” said Mousa Abdulmajeed, an orphan.

A few years ago, the ministry signed a contract with an insurance company to provide medical insurance for orphans with special circumstances, for students with special needs at special education centers and the shelter houses under the supervision of the ministry.

But the ministry decided at a later stage not to include orphans who lost their mothers and fathers covered by medical insurance. However, a majority of such people face difficulties in getting treatment from government hospitals. Their financial position being tight, they cannot get treatment at private hospitals.