MP threatens Health officials to be accountable

A lawmaker has threatened to hold the health authorities in Bahrain accountable, after news about shortage of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) medications in the country leaked.

MP Ali Al Ateesh warned that he would not hesitate to form an investigative parliamentary panel to follow up on the information stating that SCD medications, especially morphine, were running short in the pharmacies under the Health Ministry.

Al Ateesh’s statements followed information leaked by Bahrain Society for Sickle Cell and Anaemia care President Zakareya Al Kadhem that “SCD patients are obliged to wait for 4 to 6 hours before they could be provided with medication due to lack of stocks in the ministry’s pharmaceutical warehouses”.

According to Al Ateesh, “the statements of Al Kadhem said that the ministry is extending and delaying the treatment periods of SCD patients due to the existing lack of medications, which is predicted to be dried out in less than one week”.

Al Ateesh highlighted that one of the highest death rates due to SCD in the world was recorded in Bahrain, adding that Health Ministry was responsible for providing the appropriate medicines to citizens.

“The complaints of citizens in regards to SCD medications have increased lately. Even if they’re not available in governmental pharmaceutical outlets, when patients seek these medications in private establishments, they can’t find it,” added Al Ateesh.

The lawmaker concluded in his statement that the MPs had passed the State’s budget plan to ensure that citizens’ rights in education and healthcare and other fields were ensured. He stressed that the Government’s plans to cut costs did not include providing medications to citizens.”