Middle East Healthcare News » Teleradiology

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia Is Releasing Free- From Tobacco Campaign During Haj.

ICTFH — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:24:50 +0000

As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is preparing for the Haj pilgrims, and millions of Muslims are going to visit the holy land, the ministry of health has released its campaign to make Makkah and Madina completely free from tobacco.Sameer Al-Sabban, executive director of the Anti-Smoking Campaign in Makkah, said “We require the cooperation of pilgrims to make the two holy cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the world,” and he also added that they will intensify the program for this year.

Selling tobacco has been forbidden around the Grand Mosque in Makkah and Madinah in a five km radius. Posters and information about anti-smoking clinics and fatwas have been displayed in the two cities. Also fliers, pamphlets and stickers will be on the buses that carry the pilgrims to their destination to the Jamrat area.

Al-Sabban commented “A team of scouts and health officials have taken positions at the Grand Mosque in Makkah to raise awareness about the health risks caused by this ugly habit. It’s a pity that smokers gather at the back side of the Grand Mosque to smoke which is hazardous to the entire environment of the holy city. These Saudi youths look for smokers within the holy city and politely give them Miswaks and booklets full of illustrations which can be understood by all people”

The ministry has established six anti-smoking clinics in the holy city, which are open for free to all pilgrims, men and women. Dr. Al- Sabban stressed that Makkah is the perfect place to give up smoking. He added that one million of the five million people around the world, dying from smoking are Muslims. He said “This is mainly because of their extravagant lifestyles and lack of knowledge of the hazards of smoking”. He also added that the smokers do not only harm themselves but also whoever around, and that what is called passive smoking. Saudi physicians and psychiatrists will be assisting the campaign, beside some of famous websites regarding the campaign’s promotion.

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Bahrain to host major metabolic diseases conference.

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:34:06 +0000

The Health Minister of Bahrain, Dr. Faisal Al Hamer, is going to attend the 7th conference spotlighting metabolic diseases, which will be held in Bahrain on October 29th. The event has been taking place in a Middle Eastern country annually. Experts attend the event to discuss the latest advances in detecting and diagnosing metabolic disorders.

Dr. Emtithal Al Jishi, a healthcare official, said “Speakers from the Middle East, the United States of America, Germany and Britain will address the conference,” The event will be attended by more than 150 specialist and researcher. About 50 seats have been reserved for officials from the health ministry of Bahrain, along with attendees from the BDF Hospital, private hospitals and the Bahrain College of Medicine. Moreover, a number of doctors, nurses and nutritionists are going also to attend the conference. The event will discuss several critical metabolic disorders from Bahrain.

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High Rates of Smoking teenagers in Saudi Arabia.

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:54:48 +0000

According to “Anbaukum”, an online newspaper from Saudi Arabia, the kingdom has the third highest global rate of smokers between teenagers, the rate is 19.3%. “Anbaukum” mentioned that total number of smokers in Saudi Arabia is about 6 million individuals, which represents 21.6 % of the entire population of the country.

The online paper said “Saudi Arabia is ranked third in the world in terms of the number of teenage smokers at a ratio of 19.3%,” The report was using numbers from the anti-smoking plan deployed by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which reported that 37% of the university male students in Saudi Arabia are smokers while another 10% of female students smoke.

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Oman Boosts Its Healthcare Services With New projects.

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:40:26 +0000

The Ministry of Health in Oman announced that it is currently working on huge health projects which will cost the country more than RO73 million. The announcement was made by the Minister of health, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid Al Saidi. The minister mentioned that the new project significantly improve the level of healthcare in Oman. He said “Among these projects there is the Psychiatric Hospital Project, which costs around RO50 million, and Heart Disease Centre and Magnetic Resonance Unit in Salalah, which cost more than RO18 million.”

Dr. Al Saidi added that the ministry is also building the National Centre for Genetic Health, which will cost more than RO5 million. The minister added that the ministry is cooperating with private section to build other projects. He explained “These projects include oncology wards and day-care centre at the Royal Hospital, the National Centre of Cardiology at Royal Hospital and the National Centre for Diabetes and endocrine systems,”

Meanwhile, Dr. Al Saidi added that the ministry is also building a number of other projects linked o health centers in addition to expanding other projects as part of its seventh five-year plan, at a total cost of more than RO60 million. The minister explained “Among the projects that are expected to be completed soon are the rehabilitation of Khoula Hospital-emergency and accident building, rehabilitation of Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, Jaalan Bani Bu Hasan Hospital, creating a power transformer station at the Royal Hospital, in addition to Health Centres in South Al Khoudh, North Al Khuwair, Jebroo, Falaj Al Qabayel, Nizwa, Al Rustaq, Wedam, Rahab, Al Ghaweesa and Al Ajayez,”

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The First State of The Art Awake Brain Surgery

ICTFH — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:34:11 +0000

A multi-disciplinary team at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) managed by Cleveland Clinic recently performed the first awake brain open surgery in the gulf region. The surgery included a removal of a tumor from the patient brain located near the brain cells responsible for vocalization and speech. SKMC is owned and operated by SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The patient was admitted with several epileptic fits, post-critical transient aphasia and hemiparesis. Investigations including CT scan and MRI of the brain showed a left frontal cortico-subcortical tumor, which is in the brain area responsible for the speech. A biopsy was then done on this lesion; and the histopathology report showed an Astrocytoma which is an intermediate tumor between benign and malignant.

Dr. Maher Mansour, Consultant Neurosurgeon who performed this state-of-the-art surgery, stated “The first line treatment of this kind of tumors is the surgical excision or at least partial excision of the lesion in order to reduce its volume and the mass effect on the brain”.

“The surgery for this 38 year old patient was conditioned by the risk of post-op aphasia (inability to speak). For that reason, it was indicated to do this procedure with the patient awake, in order to assess him while we do electrical stimulation on the region we wanted to remove ensuring that no cells from the normal brain is removed”, Dr. Mansour added.

The surgery was made possible because of the multi-disciplinary team involved, which was led by Dr. Maher Mansour, who practices surgery in SKMC since coming from France in 2006. In addition, Dr. John Mansfield, Chairman of Anesthesia at SKMC, Dr. Adham El Sayed were amongst the team as well as Dr. Alan Smit, Dr. Peter Kelsall and Dr Sayed Zaidi who provided the patient with local anesthesia and conscious sedation.

During the surgery, assessment of the patient speech through very specific tests repeated three times for each stimulated area (gyrus) was performed very professionally by the speech therapy team, Mershen Pillay and Fatima-Nouzha Ishak. Technical assistance for the cortical stimulation was also assured during the surgery.

Dr. Mansour added, “The patient tolerated this 6 hours procedure very well and he was speaking and moving on the OR table after the last suture”.

The post-operative images of the patient brain showed that the tumor was totally removed and the brain was under normal pressure. However, the histopathology analysis of the tumor showed Grade 3 Astrocytoma, therefore the patient needed complementary radiation therapy which he decided to have in his home country, India.

“We are pleased that we were able to totally remove the tumor from the brain and that the patient is currently doing well speaking and moving freely with no pain”, Dr. Mansour added. “We are proud that we expanded our capabilities to perform this brain surgery for an awake patient successfully at SKMC which is considered the first of its kind in the gulf region”.

“This attainment demonstrates the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company – SEHA and SEHA commitment to delivering world class healthcare services to our patients. In addition, it demonstrates SKMC and Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to improving the lives of patients through innovation,” said Carl Stanifer, SEHA CEO. “SKMC is setting new standards of care and building patient trust in the healthcare system. I’m extremely proud of the team who worked tirelessly to save this patient’s life”.

“This demonstrates SKMC and Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to embrace state-of-the-art medical and surgical practices that allow our surgeons to advance the standard of care for their patients in a regionally reputed medical center offering the best treatment and facilities”, Dr. Maini said.

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No Q-Fever in Qatar

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:05:01 +0000

The Supreme Council of Health has scotched rumours about the spread of a new pandemic known as Q-Fever. Q-Fever is a known infectious disease but it currently does not cause any concern worldwide, the SCHSCH said in a statement issued yesterday.

“Recently some news has been circulating about the spread of a new pandemic known as Q-Fever. The SCHSCH would like to inform the public that the disease is currently restricted to the Netherlands. Therefore it is not a disease that causes any concern right now,” said the statement.

Q-Fever is not a new disease and it was reported before in all continents. In 2009 around 2300 people around the world were infected with Q-Fever with 6 fatalities, added the statement.

The disease usually infects veterinarians, meat workers, dairy workers and farmers. The disease is caused by a species of bacteria known as Coxilla burnetii which comes out of cattle, sheep, goats cats, dogs and some wild animals.

Direct transfer of the disease from a human being to another is rare; however clothes of an infected person may transmit the disease. Symptoms are shown in high fever, severe headache, malaise, myalgia, confusion, sore throat, chills, sweat, non-productive cough, nausea, vomiting and stomach and chest pain.

Antibiotic treatment is quite effective, namely Doxycyclin. This treatment is most effective during the first three days of the illness. After full recovery the person may gain permanent immunity against the disease in the future.

Q-Fever outbreaks occur mainly due to occupational exposure involving veterinarians, meat processing plant workers, sheep and dairy workers, livestock farmers and researchers at facilities housing sheep.

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H1N1 Shots to Remain Voluntary

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:07:36 +0000

The Ministry of Education has said that it will not make swine flu vaccinations compulsory for primary school pupils despite the low turnout during the first week of the campaign.

“There are no moves at the ministry to make it compulsory, neither are there at the Ministry of Health,” said the Education Ministry’s head of School Health, Soleiman Al-Shehri.

Al-Shehri said, however, that the public should be more aware of the importance of taking the vaccination. “We are still at the beginning of the campaign and still collecting data, and we should have information by the end of the campaign’s second week,” he said, adding that health and medical staff should make every effort to make the public aware of the vaccination’s importance.

Initial reports on the swine flu vaccination campaign show that the turnout has been very low, a fact as yet neither confirmed nor denied by the ministries of Education and Health.

A nationwide Ministry of Health survey conducted prior to the campaign suggested that 65 percent of school pupils’ parents did not intend to sign approval for their children to be vaccinated.

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Dubai inaugurates first field longest Ambulance Inaugurated

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:51:32 +0000

H.H Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, on Thursday inaugurated the world’s longest ambulance.

At a ceremony in Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed was briefed by Director General of the Dubai Health Authority Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid on the capabilities and roles of the veihcle which entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest ambulance as it can carry and provide rapid medical assistance to up to 44 cases in the event of major incidents, i.e. accidents or disasters involving large numbers of injury victims.

There are observation bays, a fully-functioning operating theatre. The technical equipment used to monitor patients covers the entire range, including an ECG.

The ambulance is linked via satellites to relay medical data to hospitals.

Further diagnosis is possible using X-rays and ultrasonic equipment.

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H1N1 Deaths hit 94 in Egypt

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:05:16 +0000

Egypt’s Ministry of Health has announced three more deaths from swine flu Monday, raising the death toll from the H1N1 virus to 94.

The three cases were all female, the first a 16-year-old from Beheira, the second a 20-year-old from Dakhalia and the third a 26-year-old from Cairo.

In the latest swine flu weekly update, the number of cases reported in Egypt reached 7,330 according to official spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Abdel Rahman Shahin.

According to the latest swine flu report, 2,538 cases were infected during the period between Dec.14 until Dec. 20, which includes 1,270 cases found in schools and 134 in universities.

The number of cases treated from the virus are 6,981, which is more than 95 percent, and 260 cases are still under treatment at hospitals around the country.

Hepatitis C Treatment Survey Reveals: 75% of Physicians Agree that Early Treatment is the Most Important Factor to Reduce Liver Cancer Incidence

23 Dec 2009, Cairo – Almost one hundred gastroenterology professors and experts from around the world participated in a survey on hepatitis C treatment. The survey was undertaken at the 2nd Post Graduate Gastroenterology Workshop held in Cairo, December 11th – 14th in collaboration with the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO).

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H1N1 | Increase In Swine Flu Rate

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:53:45 +0000

Jordan reported 16 new cases of the H1N1 – swine flu over the past week, raising the total number of infections in the Kingdom to 3049, according to Health Ministry weekly report.

The ministry indicated that 24,000 citizens have been vaccinated against the pandemic so far.

It also noted that the H1N1 | swine flu vaccination campaign has given priority to most vulnerable categories, including women in the third trimester of their pregnancy, children under 3 years of age and patients with severe asthma, kidney or heart failure, AIDS and cancer as well as those with type 1 diabetes.

Also among priority groups are medical staff and armed forces and security apparatuses field commanders and personnel.

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