The Director of Religious Awareness at the Ministry of Health (MOH), Mr. Ali Al-Jamhan, has highlighted that the Religious Awareness General Department is keen to raise patients’ religious awareness and give them guidance on juristic rules by means of visiting them, touching and relieving their sufferings, meeting their needs, urging them to be patient, and providing them with their legitimate needs, such as copies of the Holy Qur’an, boxes of “Tayammum” (clean sand or earth to be used instead of ablution when or where water is unavailable), prayer rugs, brochures, publications, audio tapes, TV networks and other appropriate religious awareness means.
“Within the framework of its vision and message, the Department is carrying out all these activities focusing on providing the religious awareness services to all MOH health facilities all over the Kingdom’s regions. Also, this comes out of its responsibility to serve patients, visitors and employees diligently and professionally,” said Mr. Al-Jamhan.
He went on adding that the Department’s strategic plans include acquainting the hospitalized patients and visitors of health facilities with the religious issues, as well as briefing the staff of the religious awareness offices on the ideal approaches to deal with patients through offering training courses on the art of communication. In addition, the plans include offering jurisprudence courses on the visit of patients and their personal matters.
Meanwhile, the Department has issued a report talking about its achievements and activities during the year of1434H. The report reads that the department has paid more than 154,884 visits to the inpatients during the mentioned period. It also states that the Religious Awareness General Department has delivered 50,655 Tayammum boxes and 65,209 copies of the Holy Qur’an to patients.
Mr. Al-Jamhan was quoted as saying, “The Department has made use of some means and approaches in developing a wide-range of strategies and plans,” adding that such plans and strategies were carried out by its branches at the Health Affairs General Directorates all over the Kingdom’s regions and governorates, as well as the religious awareness offices at MOH health facilities.
It is worth mentioning that such approaches include communicating with the patient since his admission to the health facility, counting the number of the new patients, and visiting them to touch and meet their needs in coordination with the physician following up their conditions.
“The visit forms are filled in, containing the patient’s name, as well as his health condition and his legitimate needs,” Mr. Al-Jamhan said, noting that the department has organized several training courses for the employees of the religious awareness departments in the Kingdom’s regions and governorates, and participated in the exhibitions held by other relevant government agencies in the Kingdom.