12,000 patients benefit from health ministry's home care program

A senior Ministry of Health official in Riyadh said on Wednesday the number of patients who have benefited from the Home Health Care Program has exceeded 12,000 patients ever since it was introduced in April 2010. Nasser bin Saleh Al-Hozaim, supervisor of the program, was speaking on the sidelines of a workshop held in the capital on Wednesday to train health officials who visit homes to provide health care services. Describing the program as the most important project developed by the ministry, Al-Hozaim said that it is aimed at providing a wide range of health care programs. “There are 560 health officials who are divided into 180 teams working in the field in all parts of the Kingdom’s health regions,” Al-Hozaim said, adding that they are linked to 120 hospitals spread throughout the Kingdom to attend to the health needs of those patients confined to their homes. The official said 32 percent of the patients covered under the program suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac and renal diseases. Twenty percent are Alzheimer’s and psychiatric patients, 13 percent paralytics, 10 percent suffer from diabetic foot diseases and 2 percent from malignancy. Al-Hozaim said that on a special directive from Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, 80 vehicles are being allocated to help health officials to visit homes regularly to monitor the condition of patients covered under the program. “Some of the officials visit patients living in remote areas,” he noted. According to NCB estimates, by 2015 the Kingdom's population will reach 31.69 million. The growth rate for Saudi nationals will continue to rise, while the proportion of expatriates will 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 over 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 from the current 4.4 percent. This will lead to an increase in demand for high-cost medical care necessary to treat more serious diseases typically faced by 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.