The Jeddah Health Affairs has begun a new program to establish special clinics for pre-marital tests in all maternity and government hospital. Dr. Khalid Al-Zahrani, Assistant Undersecretary for Preventive Medicine in the Ministry of Health, and Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of Jeddah Health Affairs Department, on Tuesday inaugurated a clinic for pre-marital tests in Al-Musadia maternity hospital. Four clinics will be opened during the coming few months. They will be in King Abdul Aziz Government Hospital, King Fahd Hospital, and regional laboratory centers. Plans are afoot to establish more clinics before summer, Badawood said. “We already have four centers in Makkah and Madina. We need to have one in Rabegh too,” he said. All the proposed centers will be supported by training courses and symposiums on the necessity of having pre-marital tests, he said. Many Saudis, he said, have been found to be showing no interest in pre-medical tests. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and other relevant authorities have made it compulsory for all to undergo these tests. The role of the media is very important in this regard, Abdurrahman Al-Sahafi, Public Relations Manager in Jeddah Health Affairs Departmen, said. “We are working hard to attract the media and several levels of the society to create an awareness on the importance of these tests,” he said. – SG __
