JEDDAH: A lack of clarity over whether the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for the care of homeless persons with mental health problems has resulted in resources being wasted and a failure to provide the care required. While the Ministry of Health insists its role does not extend beyond providing medical treatment for patients and says that social care is the responsibility of other parties, the Ministry of Social Affairs says that care for the homeless is the duty of the Ministry of Health. Five percent of the Ministry of Health's budget is spent each year on care and treatment for homeless persons with mental illnesses, and a former official at the Ministry of Social Affairs who supervised the construction and renting of some centers of convalescence told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that around SR10 million has been “wasted” on rents for buildings for the homeless which never been put into use. “The fraternity building for the convalescence of persons with mental illness in Jeddah has been shut for about seven years, despite the building being rented for a million riyals a year,” he said. “The fraternity centers, which have now been transferred to the responsibility of the Ministry of Health having previously pertained to the Ministry of Social Affairs, were basically born dead in the water. The one in Jeddah has been rented for a long time without any use being made of the building which has been left closed all that time.” He said that the reason was a failure to agree within the Ministry of Social Affairs on whether the sites should be part of the ministry's remit or not. Abdullah Aal Tawi, head of Social Affairs in Makkah, said his ministry's connection to the sites ended with their transferal to the Ministry of Health. “When we first observed an increase in persons living on the street with no official body to care for them, we built and rented sites to serve basically as convalescence centers offering social care for persons with no families or who had been abandoned by their families,” he said. “It later became clear, however, that many of them required health care, and a senior committee approved the transfer of supervision responsibilities to the Ministry of Health, and that is what happened. The Ministry of Health is fully responsible for the centers.” Abdul Hameed Al-Habeeb, Director General of Mental and Social Health at the Ministry of Health, said that ministry hospitals admitted last year 400,000 persons suffering from mental issues. “We plan to increase the number of beds and have for some time planned to provide care and social services through day care centers,” Al-Habeeb said. “They will ensure that patients receive care and supervision in places close to their homes and get the right medical treatment. It would mean they can live in normal circumstances, as if they were living with their families or relatives and, if they can live independently, they can also do that with close supervision provided.” Al-Habeeb described the project as “huge” and “in need of massive facilities”. “The support for it is there, and that's why we have begun it through opening day care centers,” he said.
