More lectures for health workers should be held to raise awareness and to counter the danger of dengue fever. This is the call from Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of Health Affairs in Jeddah Governorate at a training program organized by the Primary Health Care Administration that started Sunday. Badawood said the Directorate of Health Affairs, represented by the Primary Health Care Administration, has already held five training and awareness courses for health workers. Most of the courses focused on training and how to deal with the citizens and expatriates. Dr. Noha Dashash, Assistant Director of Health Affairs for Primary Health Care, said the three-day training program, with 160 participants, targets those working in the Dengue Fever Program. It aims to boost collective efforts at curbing the spread of the disease. Saudi Gazette has previously reported that after a meeting on Saturday of five government departments to discuss ways to combat the outbreak of dengue fever in Jeddah – which has already infected hundreds of people - officials from the mayoralty and the health affairs department started blaming each other for the situation. Over 200 people have contracted the disease over the past two weeks. A total of 750 cases over the past 16 weeks have been confirmed. The Directorate of Health Affairs accused the mayoralty of ignoring its warning that it should deal with the breeding grounds of disease carriers such as mosquitoes. The mayoralty replied that the information provided by Health Affairs officials did not accurately reflect the magnitude of the problem, which affected the response to the disease. Bassam Akhdhar, a member of the Municipal Council in Jeddah, was quoted saying that he held the Ministry of Health and the mayoralty accountable for the increase in dengue fever cases. He also accused cleaning companies in Jeddah for not cleaning up heaps of garbage in southern and central Jeddah. He said it was a common sight to see dirt and waste around buildings and residential areas. He claimed that the emergency plan was “nothing but ink on paper” because it was not being implemented. He also expressed doubts about the authenticity and accuracy of the information provided by the Ministry of Health. He said this alleged inaccurate information aggravated the problem in Jeddah and was a reflection of the weak response to combating the disease. He called on the Directorate of Health Affairs and Jeddah Mayoralty to stop blaming each other because this will not solve the problem. He said residents were the ones suffering.
