22 June 2013
The Ministry of Health (MoL) has been criticized for its handling of the outbreak of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), including its alleged inability to inform the public about precautionary measures and how the disease spreads.
The accusations were leveled by Dr. Tareq Madani, head of the Saudi Society for Internal Medicine and professor of internal and infectious medicine at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, according to local media.
"This issue is rather mysterious, and we don't know what the problem is. The ministry did not know how to deal with the virus, because of its lack of experience in this particular field. The disease ... is nonetheless contagious. It can be contracted through breathing and contact with any discharge of a patient," he said.
He said that in Britain, when it was found that three infected people had spread the disease to 100 other people, the British public was immediately informed about the infections and the way the disease spreads.
He said the Kingdom has over 40 cases but "we have yet to get any information about the spread of the disease."
He said the disease could affect Umrah and Haj pilgrims, which made it vital for the ministry to launch information campaigns before Ramadan.
The Ministry of Health (MoL) has been criticized for its handling of the outbreak of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), including its alleged inability to inform the public about precautionary measures and how the disease spreads.
The accusations were leveled by Dr. Tareq Madani, head of the Saudi Society for Internal Medicine and professor of internal and infectious medicine at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, according to local media.
"This issue is rather mysterious, and we don't know what the problem is. The ministry did not know how to deal with the virus, because of its lack of experience in this particular field. The disease ... is nonetheless contagious. It can be contracted through breathing and contact with any discharge of a patient," he said.
He said that in Britain, when it was found that three infected people had spread the disease to 100 other people, the British public was immediately informed about the infections and the way the disease spreads.
He said the Kingdom has over 40 cases but "we have yet to get any information about the spread of the disease."
He said the disease could affect Umrah and Haj pilgrims, which made it vital for the ministry to launch information campaigns before Ramadan.
© Arab News 2013
