JEDDAH, 12 April 2003 — Efforts are under way to establish a large, 800-bed medical complex in the city, according to Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Shawish, director of Jeddah Mental Hospital.
He said the Health Ministry has already completed a study on the project and presented it to higher authorities for approval. The project will include two hospitals to treat psychiatric patients and drug addicts.
He said Health Minister Dr. Osama Shubokshi has approved a new building to house the mental hospital at a cost of SR8 million. The building will house clinics, emergency and X-ray departments, pharmacy and laboratory.
The new 150-bed facility will be ready within three years, and will be manned by experienced Saudi doctors.
“As many as 40,000 patients visit the hospital annually,” Shawish said and estimated the number of repeat visits by patients at more than 25,000. “We also receive a large number of patients transferred from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, especially those having special needs and imbecility,” he said. The mental hospital has conducted a number of seminars and lectures highlighting the role of the family in treating mental patients, he pointed out.
“A psychiatric patient is like any other patient. He may or may not get complete cure,” he said and warned patients against taking tablets without consulting a doctor.
“This will certainly complicate the disease and will also cause side effects,” he said. “Like diabetes and blood pressure, mental diseases could be cured through treatment and continuous follow up,” he said.
Shawish urged the public to avoid canned foodstuffs as well as those containing preservatives and other chemicals, adding that they may affect the nervous system. He said the exact figure of the total number of mental patients in the Kingdom was not available.
Meanwhile, the Al-Amal complex in Riyadh will hold a scientific seminar on child health on April 15. There will be lectures on smoking, drugs and various mental problems facing children.
A number of experts including Dr. Abdullah Al-Sharqi, medical director for the department of addictions at the complex, Dr. Abdullah Al-Baddah, supervisor of the program to combat smoking, and Dr. Hameed Al-Shayeji, associated professor of King Saud University, will deliver lectures on various topics.
