MPs have been urged to support a long-pending demand by a sickle cell society to reduce waiting times for female patients at the country’s main hospital.
The Bahrain Society for Sickle Cell Anaemia Patient Care has repeatedly voiced concerns over women sickle cell anaemic patients facing “discrimination” at Salmanyia Medical Centre (SMC).
The GDN previously reported that women had to wait for up to eight hours at a specially designated area for sickle cell disease at the hospital, while men were able to see a doctor within 25 minutes.
Society representatives will be meeting Parliament speaker Fouzia Zainal tomorrow to raise their concerns, said society chairman Zakreya Al Kadhem.
“Women in pain really suffer eight hours to three days as there is no special facility for them to be seen by a specialist,” he told the GDN.
“Our request is long-pending, and senior MPs have highlighted this discrimination in the chamber.
“We are not asking for a new building; we are asking for a specialised consultant team which can attend to women patients as quickly as male patients are attended to.
“Health Minister Faeqa Al Saleh said she would resolve the situation in 2019 but nothing has happened as yet.”
The BD4.7 million centre opened in 2014 and caters to more than 15,000 patients, including 5,000 sickle cell sufferers.
However, there is no separate ward for women though a day care unit dedicated to male sickle cell patients was opened in July 2015.
In November of the same year, two women-only waiting areas for female sickle cell patients was set up in the SMC accident and emergency department.
Meanwhile, MP Dr Masooma Abdulrahim has praised a Cabinet decision to exempt sickle cell and cancer patients from watching local football matches, following a proposal from Parliament.
In a post on social media platform Instagram, the Parliament member thanked the Cabinet for understanding the virtue of the MPs’ proposal and said the move was a great morale booster for communities.
However, the society said Dr Abdulrahim’s gesture was “disrespectful” and “unacceptable”.
“We urge the MPs to look into the needs of the community which are of priority than making a big deal of silly issues,” said Mr Al Kadhem.
“Our community does not appreciate such actions by MPs which, we feel, was disrespectful.
“We deserve to be treated like other citizens and the MPs should not make us feel inferior.”
Mr Al Kadhem pointed out that in her election campaign, Dr Abdulrahim had referred to sickle cell patients as “addicts”.
“We are not addicts; we are an educated, sensible community with a will-power to survive.
“We had objected to her statement at the time but till date she has not apologised.”
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder that causes some red blood cells to bend into a crescent shape, which clog the blood vessels, resulting in chronic pain, multi-organ failure and stroke.
The GDN previously reported that according to official records, 8,664 Bahrainis – 4,271 male and 4,393 female – are suffering from sickle cell anaemia.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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