Mohammed Dawood

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia is facing plenty of health challenges, an expert here has said.



Prof. Hasan Jamal, former chairman of the Saudi Society of Gynecology and Maternity, said health statistics for Saudi Arabia are very tragic and that World Health Organization (WHO) reports on the Gulf region concerns him.



“Obesity, diabetes, blood pressure, breast cancer and other diseases are widely spread at staggering and astronomical levels and we are at the forefront of countries in this sense, representing many difficult challenges,” he said.



He noted health authorities are making great efforts to combat these challenges but they are not enough to improve matters.



Jamal said increasing rates of health diseases was due to a lack of education programs or individuals in the community who cannot afford to accommodate them.



He believes that there are deficiencies in awareness programs, while there have been many conferences and seminars that resulted in important recommendations that had not been followed up.



Jamal gave an example of some Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia that are considered developing countries, but are “in fact very developed because they have accurately and strictly implemented all the recommendations of health conferences.”



He said: “There are many areas in the Kingdom that are still complaining of a shortage of many health services, especially equipment, and this forces many patients to seek medical services in other areas, bearing the hardship of traveling and long waiting lists.



“There is an urgent need to provide these areas with the required technology and specialized medical staff.”



Jamal pointed out that the ratio of women who die while giving birth is between 14 to 17 cases per 100,000 cases, a small percentage compared to many countries but still high.



He added this ratio is between 60 to 70 cases per 100,000 cases in some countries, whereas maternal mortality in European countries is only one to two cases.



He said: “This calls for an effective monitoring and follow up of the Council of Health Ministers in the Gulf countries to reduce the mortality rates of mothers and children.



“All this can be achieved by the implementation of recommendations.“The Saudi Society of Gynecology and Maternity does not have a large budget to implement recommendations and its role is to hold and organize conferences that attract the best doctors who exchange their experiences and expertise and come up with recommendations to deal with the challenges facing women’s health, while implementing these recommendations is the responsibility of other bodies.”



He said members of the society, unfortunately, ignore awareness programs that focus on early detection of diseases and attention to health and many visit hospitals only after their illnesses have exacerbated.



Jamal said he is very concerned over the health of women in the Gulf. “Hospitals will not improve unless all health centers are upgraded to deal with cold cases, allowing hospitals to deal with more complicated cases only.



“Unfortunately, the emergency units at hospitals are preoccupied with cold cases at the expense of genuine emergency patients.



“Many patients lack the required awareness and head to hospitals to treat a simple cough, while neglecting health centers that are considered the first line of defense in dealing with such cases.”