Number of Home Healthcare Program Beneficiaries Exceeds 20,000
RIYADH: Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said that the number of patients on the Home Healthcare Program (HHP) has exceeded 20,000 since its introduction in April 2010.
The Ministry of Health mobilized a new fleet of 189 vehicles for this program. The vehicles would enable health officials to regularly visit homes to monitor the health of patients covered under the program. The first installment of 80 vehicles was assembled last year.
"We deem it an important ministry service to help aging patients get their medical treatment at home without the hassles of traveling to hospitals or clinics," Al-Rabeeah said, adding that the program reduced the pressure on hospital beds in the Kingdom. With the help of the new fleet, the minister said there is room for more people to benefit from the HHP program throughout the Kingdom.
Family medicine has been recognized as a separate discipline.The Ministry of Health has set up separate departments for family health, public relations and the rights of health officials to boost patient-friendly services.
Al-Rabeeah said these departments are aimed at providing the best patient care service throughout the Kingdom. The ministry receives regular progress reports from the departments. Family health is an important component of the services of the ministry.
"The new departments have a set of guidelines designed to offer the best medical services to ensure patients' satisfaction," Al-Rabeeah said. He added that the HHP would provide pragmatic solutions to patients' problems and enhance friendly relations between patients and health officials.
Supervisor General of HHP Nasser bin Saleh Al-Hozaim said the number of vehicles that comes under the program has reached 269. The second installment, he said, has cost the ministry around SR 22 million.
"There are more than 700 health officials who are divided into 246 teams working in the field in all parts of the Kingdom," Al-Hozaim said, adding that they are linked to 169 hospitals to attend to the health needs of patients confined to their homes.
Each medical team comprises a doctor, a nurse, technicians, physiotherapists and social workers to offer counseling to patients and their relatives.
The official said that 25 percent of these patients suffer from chronic ailments such as diabetes, cardiac and renal diseases, while 23 percent suffer from paralytic stroke and neural diseases. Some 18 percent of the patients are affected with psychiatric diseases, while another eight percent suffer from various age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's." Only two percent suffer from malignant diseases," he added.
"Some of the officials visit patients living in remote places in the Kingdom," he noted, adding that a good number of beneficiaries under the program are found in places such as Riyadh, Asir, Madinah and the Eastern Province.
A recent NCB report said that by 2015 the Kingdom's population would reach an estimated 31.69 million. The growth rate for Saudi nationals would continue to rise, while the proportion of expatriates would increase at a decelerated rate in comparison to previous influxes spurred by economic booms.
The significance of this demographic shift is that Saudis have developed a predisposition to lifestyle diseases that will translate into an expensive medical profile requiring complex treatment in the long term. This will increase demand for enhanced medical facilities.
The number of Saudis past the retirement age of 60 will grow by 27 percent by 2015, the report said, adding that this age group will account for approximately 4.7 percent of the total population in 2015, or 1,367,303 individuals an increase from the current 4.4 percent.
This development will lead to an increase in demand for high-cost medical care to treat diseases that typically affect older patients.
The United Nations estimates that Saudi life expectancy will increase to 73.8 years by 2015, provided demographic trends remain the same. Based on population projections, outpatient visits and inpatient admissions are expected to reach 159 million visits and 4 million admissions respectively by 2015.
The Business Monitor International's Burden of Disease Database examines the total number of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to disease and injury annually. It indicates that by 2015, approximately 3.4 million DALYs will be lost to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)in the Kingdom.
In the short term, increased incidences of NCDs will increase per capita health care costs, causing health insurance claims to rise for these patients.
MD Rasooldeen - Arab News
