Mahmoud Ahmad

 

Last week a series of articles in Okaz newspaper caught my eye and made me ponder whether we are facing a ticking health bomb. The first article in Okaz stated that one quarter of people in the Kingdom are diabetic and that the THE percentage of diabetics will increase in future. The stats provided by the paper said the percentage of diabetic patients increased to 10 percent in 1985 and later reached 24 percent 2000. Their percentage is most likely to increase to 35 percent in 2025, the paper said, quoting a consultant at the general administration for medical services at the Interior Ministry.



Then I read, also in the same title, another consultant and head of the tumor section at King Abdul Aziz Medical City for National Guard saying that the Kingdom recorded nearly 13,700 cases of cancer in 2010. He said, most of these cases are women and the 10,000 people out of the total number are Saudi patients. He pointed out that according to national statistics issued recently, 30 percent of the cases of tumors in the Kingdom is a result of behavioral and food factors. People who are exposed to these types of diseases do not eat fruits and vegetable regularly. They also do not follow a regular life pattern of food and sleep habits (habitual heavy, fast food or untimely eaters). And such people do not exercise properly and most of them are smokers or alcohol drinkers.



Aside from the casualties from car accidents, which are always on the high and rising year after year, we are now witnessing another area of casualties with increase in health problems. Are the current efforts not enough to keep the number steady or decrease it? What more do we need to do to stem this rising tide of health issues?



Cancer, diabetes, heart problems, bone diseases and many other problems can be grouped together to cause what I would describe as health terrorism. From time to time we read in newspapers about the Health Ministry organizing a seminar on diabetes or cancer to spread awareness about these dangerous diseases. But all their efforts seem to fall flat with people ignoring the campaigns. I think people somehow do not care about diseases until they get sick, and only then they start reading about it and how to control the disease.



This reaction after the fact is too little and too late for many. What people should understand and do is to be proactive about their health and help the authorities in checking this growing problem. All it needs is a little self-awareness.



I ask people when was the last time they did a full health checkup at a hospital even if they had no issues. The answer of the majority would be ‘not in recent years as I do not have health issues’. It is only a very small percentage of the population who keep a watch over their health while the vast majority ignore it and only become conscious of the need for self-awareness when they or a kin becomes a patient.



It is really ironic that people are this callous about their health. I would like to remind them that one’s body is just like a car. When a person maintains his car poorly, then what does that person expect? Of course, after the initial smooth run the person would see unexpected mechanical problems crop up. If this person had been checking his car regularly then most likely the person would have avoided major car problems. Prevention is the word we are looking at here, not cure after the disease is there.



I remember long time back a family friend was diagnosed with diabetes because of his bad eating habits and non-existent exercising regimen. Reports say that diabetes could be inherited, but in his case diabetes was alien to his family. What he became was obese and also careless about his health. Only after becoming a diabetic that he started to read about the problem. I remember his exact words at that time, “I wish I had taken more care of my health and I would not have been in this state now.” Now he is more careful about his diet and exercise and monitors his health with medicines and checkups. When he can practice such discipline now, I ask, why did he allow his health to deteriorate to this stage when it could have been easily avoided?



It is the same with cancer, which is widespread in our society. There are many causes that lead to cancer but I am stressing here about the type that comes because of smoking and similar related causes. We still see people smoking a lot although it is a main cause of cancer. Don’t these smokers realize that it would be too late to quit smoking when they discover that they have got cancer? Despite the repeated warnings and the scare tactics, smokers don't care to take heed. Smokers are still on the rise and so is cancer and yet all the effort to increase awareness about the danger of smoking and its link to cancer is falling on deaf ears. What else can the Health Ministry do? We hold seminars more than once a year and invite top speakers to speak about it and newspapers repeatedly publish reports about smoking and cancer and how to prevent it. Yet the message does not seem to be reaching the relevant people.



It is sad to see our hospitals crowded year after year with people with various major ailments. It is sad to see many people calling for more hospitals because the percentage of sick people is increasing every year. What these people do not understand is that instead of calling for more hospitals they could contribute by bringing discipline in their lives. They could start with a ‘health watch’ of themselves first and extending it to their family next. With each family becoming aware of acting to stay healthy the ripple effect would then extend to a neighborhood, city and then the society as a whole. In this way major disease could be easily avoided.



They should understand that it costs the country a lot for treatment of diabetes and cancer. What is even worse is that our youth is being affected by health problems that could generally come to people when they are old. Why are these young people not taking care of their health and worst of all, what kind of problems would they have when they get old if they are sick now?

 

— The writer can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa. Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng