JEDDAH: The Saudi Spina Bifida Support Group held a workshop here Saturday in preparation for launching an awareness campaign about the condition. Spina Bifida is a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord. The workshop was held under the patronage of the Health Care Society of the National Guard Hospital at the Abdul Latif Jameel Hospital auditorium. The participants included volunteers, social workers, medical students and doctors. The Spina Bifida Support Group consists of medical workers, people living with the condition and families of sufferers. The aim was to make sure these health workers and interested parties learn more about the condition, how to treat patients, especially children, and to provide support where it is needed the most. The awareness campaign is from Jan. 5 to 14 and will be held at various venues in Jeddah. Professor Musad Al-Aula, the general supervisor of the Saudi Spina Bifida group of volunteers, said the group wants to create public awareness and provide support for children sufferers. People who want to contact the group can visit the website www.alsolb.com, he added. Dr. Jamila Ghazi, chairperson of the pediatric department and consultant pediatric neurologist at King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, told Saudi Gazette that the aim was also to promote the use of folic acid in the treatment of such patients. She said this was important for all women because about 500 such children are born every year in Saudi Arabia. Ghazi said folic acid reduces the incidence of Spina Bifida by 40 to 70 percent but that it was important for it to be taken before conception. Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammed Sibi, the pediatric consultant at the National Guard Hospital and supervisor of the awareness campaign, said the use of folic acid was important for the whole Kingdom because it helps to reduce chances of renal failure. During the week-long campaign, volunteers will go to different areas of Jeddah and spread awareness about the disease. An event is currently taking place in Abha and others have been completed in Riyadh and Dammam. Ghazi said this is the first time the folic acid campaign is being taken nationwide. Ghada Rasheed, a student at Dar Hekma College, said the workshop was excellent because it informed her about Spina Bifida and the importance of folic acid.
