One of my friends was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and doctors said he needed surgery to remove it. After consulting a major medical center in Canada, he was advised to undergo surgery in Jeddah under the hands of a famous Saudi doctor. My friend was very happy that a Saudi doctor would be performing the surgery.
Using his wasta (connections), which work perfectly in our society, my friend managed to arrange an appointment after a few days. Before the surgery, the doctor instructed my friend to undergo a full body MRI scan to locate the infected cells. However, he was shocked to learn that the Kingdom only has one MRI machine for this job. Usage of this machine costs SR7,000 and the earliest appointment was after seven months.
My friend flew to a country north of Saudi Arabia and did the MRI scan for only SR2,000. This country, which is small in size and has limited resources, has two such special x-ray machines. My friend underwent the surgery, which was a total success.
In this story, financial ability and wasta played an important role in my friend successfully undergoing surgery. How many poor people are there in the Kingdom who have limited financial capabilities and are in a similar situation as my friend was?
These people suffer on a daily basis because of the limited resources in our health sector and due to the total lack of contribution from the private sector.
A recent study revealed that cancer is on the rise in the Kingdom and that tens of thousands of cases are detected each year. These statistics speak about those cancer cases that are discovered, and there are probably many more that remain undetected. We need to ask whether this increase is met by a robust plan from the Ministry of Health, involving increased financial support to research the disease to effectively fight it.
According to statistics, the answer is No. There are only 4,000 beds in the Kingdom to treat cancer patients. Out of these, 3,000 are at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh.
The sudden rise in the number of cancer patients highlights the need to carry out early checkups to discover the disease so it can be dealt with at an early stage. This calls for the need to have more modern equipment and beds to accommodate the number of residents in a given area. Has the Ministry of Health provided the necessary equipment?
The story above reveals a painful reality. We only have one MRI machine, which is controlled by wasta and money. Is the Ministry of Health going to guarantee patients will remain healthy and alive until their turn comes? Another question that comes to mind: Why are the best doctors in private hospitals? Can the ministry not pay good money to bring them to government hospitals?
Is the Ministry of Health incapable of solving this chronic problem through its annual budget? What is the role of the private sector, which is rich due to peoples money and which is not contributing toward society? What is the role of banks, which are sucking money from peoples salaries? They love to brag about their end of year financial profits and hardly contribute to society.
Abdullah Al-Jamili, Al-Madinah - Arab News
