In the context of its initiatives to improve the work environment, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has allocated a clinic for its employees with diabetes working at the Ministry Headquarters. The clinic is located at the MOH's emergency clinics, under the supervision of an endocrinologist and diabetes consultant. The clinic will be linked to the Diabetes Center of King Salman Hospital in Riyadh and patients will be referred to when there is a need for other services such as: the heart, eyes and diabetic foot and others, in order to provide integrated health care services. Wednesday of each week has been allocated to receive the employees with diabetes and follow-up their conditions and serving them at the Ministry Headquarters, instead of going to hospitals.
This step comes within the framework of the MOH's keenness to preserve the working hours of the employees and its desire to provide them with health care and treatment and to follow-up their conditions and conduct the required periodic screening for early detection of diabetes complications (retina, kidney, blood vessels, peripheral nerves and diabetic foot).
The MOH pointed out that the diabetes is reckoned one of the major health problems in several industrial and developing countries due to the high rate of complications and deaths related to it. “The Kingdom is one of the most affected countries with diabetes and currently about 13.6% of all age groups in the Kingdom are suffering from diabetes and its complications, and the percent is expected to increase during the next ten years", it said. It emphasized that the periodic follow-up of patients is the core stone for treating diabetes and avoiding its complications.