Qatar hospitals to report abuse of patients

Doha: The National Health Authority has asked hospitals and clinics across the country to report cases of abuses and tortures of patients detected by medical staff, a local daily reported here yesterday.

The order comes in the wake of Qatar becoming a signatory to a United Nations treaty against torture and its various covenants and ratifications, said English daily Peninsula quoting a statement issued by the authority.

"We urge all those working in the healthcare system to notify their superiors and relevant authorities whenever they observe any signs of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment afflicted on any of their patients in order to detect and penalise the person who committed it," said the directive distributed by the National Health Authority's Department of Medical Licensing to the medical facilities.

The statement also stressed the need for cooperation of the medical staff and establishments on this issue regardless of the status of the persons involved in the cases as well as the circumstances under which the abuses occurred, the daily said.

The measure is the last in a number of initiatives taken by the local authorities to address the problem of human rights protection and enhance the country's human rights record.

An increasing number of cases of domestic violence have come to the attention of the public, as local social services agencies and the National Human Rights Committee have started to help victims and refer the cases of abuse to the local media and the interior ministry.

Fadel Al Roubaie, statistics expert at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, told Gulf News that a precise record of the number of abuses and cases of violence within the family will help authorities not only to punish the abusers but also to chalk out effective policies to prevent other cases.

"It is important that all governmental departments in the health, education, interior ministry sections, and judiciary denounce the cases so that we can have a correct picture of the problem."

An Asian diplomat, who asked not to be named, hailed the initiative. "Most of the cases of abuses are against domestic helpers and housemaids, mostly Asians. Health authorities can finally help determine the magnitude of the plague of abuses against Asians that missions face every day."

Qatari authorities are also planning the creation of a special tribunal to try cases of domestic violence and also provide counselling. It would avail of the support of women sociologists and psychologists with a specific knowledge of domestic issues.

In the pipeline: Medical care infrastructure to be expanded

District of Al Wakra in Qatar will get a state-of-the-art hospital, as part of the country's measures to develop its healthcare infrastructure, a Public Works Authority statement announced in Doha yesterday.

The project is a significant step in the upgrade of the country's medical infrastructure that has been developed mainly in the capital city of Doha at the expense of other rural and industrial areas of the country.

Work for the 250-bed facility will start in autumn this year and is scheduled for completion by end of 2008.

The Al Wakra Hospital will be located about 15km south of Doha and built over an area of 70,000sqm.

The hospital will feature an accidents and emergency unit, intensive care unit, operation theatres, consulting rooms, laboratories, pharmacies, a radiology department, lecture halls, administrative offices, a women's hospital and, among others, residence for nurses and support staff.

According to data provided by the Public Works Authority, other health projects are under construction or in the pipeline.

The authority also has plans to build 14 new primary health centres across the country, which will offer emergency medicine, specialised clinics and other facilities.

A specialised 120-bed cardiac hospital is also expected to be completed by the end of 2006 in Doha, complete with an emergency department, out patients' departments, operation theatres and a specialised cardiology lab.

However, the most important project in the healthcare sector remains the Hamad Medical City, expected to be ready by 2008.

The city, currently under construction, will be used as the Olympic village for the Doha Asian Games 2006 scheduled to be held in December.

After the event, the village with over 32 buildings will be converted into a health city and its infrastructure will be refurbished. The village will host a paediatric hospital, orthopaedic hospital, physiotherapy clinic and a home for the elderly.