Manama: Health practitioners in Saudi Arabia who fail to report cases of infectious diseases will be jailed for up to six months and made to pay fines of up to 100,000 riyals (Dh97,921.)
The practitioners could also lose their licences under new measures announced by the health ministry.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the ministry stressed the need for all health practitioners to be committed to the decisions and instructions governing the reporting of infectious diseases.
Such cases, which include the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (Mers-CoV), should be reported to the authorities, directly or through the institution in which the health practitioner is employed, the ministry said.
In a note to all health directorates in the Saudi kingdom, the ministry stressed the “high significance” of reporting Mers-CoV cases “because the current situation related to infectious diseases demands all health practitioners to be fully alert and fully ready,” local news site Al Marsad reported on Wednesday.
Last week, the Command and Control Centre (CCC) at Riyadh Health Affairs General Directorate fined a private hospital in the Saudi capital 100,000 riyals for “non-compliance with infection control measures prescribed by the CCC.”
The hospital has failed to report suspected Mers-CoV cases, violating the Private Health Institution Law, which stipulates the private health institution must report any suspected cases of infectious disease detected there, the ministry said.
“The command and control centres apply strict control over all government and private health facilities to ensure the application of infection control policies and measures and help maintain the patients’ health and safety,” the ministry said.
