Abdulrahman Al-Arabi
It was recently reported that a polyclinic was shut down in Jeddah due to violating health regulations and involvement in practices that are against Shariah. Officials from the Directorate of Health Affairs in Jeddah and members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) accompanied by police officers were the ones who shut down the polyclinic following reports from residents in the nearby neighborhood claiming that the polyclinic’s employees were involved in black magic.
Before it was shut down, the polyclinic had a sign at the door on which the following Qur’anic text was written: “And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.” (26:80). Apparently, this sign was put up to make people believe the polyclinic complies with Shariah.
The polyclinic had been shut down twice before due to the violation of health regulations. The people living nearby had complained to the authorities several times before because of the suspicious practices they noticed at the clinic. Believe it or not, the committee that shut down the clinic said in its report that there were no medical staff working there. Another appalling thing was that there were no sterilizers inside. The report noted that several abortions had been carried out in the polyclinic.
How did the polyclinic mange to reopen after being shut twice? Who is behind the clinic and who allowed it to provide medical services when it did not have any medical personnel? Where were the health inspectors when the polyclinic was reported to have been carrying out abortions?
Those who visited the polyclinic described its condition as poor. They told authorities that all polyclinic staff, even the Asian doctor who was running it, looked weird and strange and did not seem to have any qualifications. How this group of criminals ended up running a polyclinic in broad daylight is beyond me. Certainly, the level of monitoring the practices of healthcare professionals is very poor. If health inspectors had done their job well and with honesty, such polyclinics would not have existed in the first place. The general public is paying for the mistakes of inspectors.
