Riyadh, Dammam: People receiving treatment at government hospitals should not get medicines or medical supplies on their own, a health official has said in strict accordance with the national health laws. Government hospitals should not ask patients to provide any medical supplies for their treatment and “this is a red line that should not be touched,” said Dr. Agail Bin Jaman Al-Ghamdi, therapeutic medicine assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Health. Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, minister of Health, instructed the health administrations to secure all types of medicine, regardless of their prices, in the service of citizens, he said. The Ministry of Health has also made it clear to all pharmacists working in government hospitals and primary health centers that there is to be no shortage of any medicine and that there are generic alternatives for brand-name medicines. The Ministry of Health directed doctors and pharmacists to explain this to patients when they dispense the generic alternatives. It has also made it mandatory for all general directorates of health affairs to provide telephones in eye-catching locations so service-seekers can report medicine shortages or shortcomings in health care service. Seasonal flu The Saudi Society for Family and Community Medicine held an event Tuesday at the Marriott Hotel in Jeddah to launch an awareness campaign about seasonal flu. Dr. Saud Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Hassan, family medicine consultant at the Security Hospital in Riyadh and supervisor of the Society's office in Riyadh, said the flu vaccine is updated every year to fight new viruses detected by specialized centers in Saudi Arabia and throughout the world. He said reports on the new viruses will be sent to the World Health Organization, which will determine the vaccine's ingredients and components. Dr. Al-Hassan said “the vaccine provides 90-percent immunity; it can't be considered 100-percent effective because new types of viruses could spread after the vaccine is manufactured.” The inoculation significantly reduces and lightens the affect of the disease or virus, especially during the Haj season, when millions of people gather in one place, he said. Dr. Al-Hassan said people who get the flu will develop symptoms four days after they are infected and symptoms last for at least seven days. He said the flu mainly spreads by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into their lungs. People less frequently get flu by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it then touching their mouth or nose. Dr. Al-Hassan said the campaign also educates people about how they can differentiate between normal and seasonal flu and educates families, old people and cardiac, diabetic and asthmatic patients about preventive methods.
