Breast Cancer awareness in Saudi-Arabia and pink abayas

This month is international Breast Cancer awareness month and it can be seen in Saudi-Arabia as well.

A National Awareness Campaign to Combat Breast Cancer has been inaugurated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to coincide with international Breast Cancer Awareness month. The campaign is led by Princess Hessah bint Trad Al-Shaalan, the Honorary President of the Zahra Breast Cancer Association and wife of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and Princess Rima bint Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

The hospital I work in has also numerous happenings on Breast Cancer awareness. The Saudi patients affected with breast cancer still tend to be very stigmatized by society and unfortunately I feel this sometimes effects the outcome of the patients treatments.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the Kingdom and is the number one killer of women in the region. Saudi Arabia continues to work with the global community to fight this disease.

I've had several young breast cancer patients in their 30's, that have been in terminal care. It is very sad and I see a profound sorrow in these women. If their cancer would have been detected earlier, the end results could be different. Breast cancer remains such a big taboo in Saudi that women often feel ashamed or scared to seek treatment until it's too late.

This month I wanted to get a pink abaya (well not ALL pink because of Muttawa issues) so I had one made last week. It has like a Pink Ribbon-edge on the front where it closes and the whole sleeves are pink too! I have seen in fact many young women donning either pink headscarves, pink decorations or ribbons on abayas and pink handbags this month, and I'm sure it's not all coincidence so I guess the message is spreading!

This weekend designer bags and makeup bags are being sold at Yibreen spa boutique on Takhasusi street next to King Faisal hospital, proceeds will go to Zahra Breast Cancer association. Check out their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8164637329

Saudi Cancer site: http://www.saudicancer.com/en/

My Saudi and his love for animals

Yesterday my husband told me the touching story of what he had done for a little stray kitten.
He was leaving work and was greeted by a little black and white kitten at the parking lot. The kitten started following him and walked behind him all the way to the car. When my husband opened the car door the kitten tried to jump in. My husband then picked it up and tried giving it water from his bottle. The kitten kept crying and wanting to come in the car.
It's still pretty hot outside and the kitten looked very weak and dehydrated. He then decided to go around the parking lot to see if there was a mother cat anywhere. He drove around and searched but did not find any other cats. It looked like this kitten was abandoned my the mother or then something happened to the rest of his family.
All the while the kitten was sitting in the parking space where my husbands car had been parked. It was just waiting for him there! So he drove back to the kitten which again jumped directly into the car. My husband then decided its best to take it somewhere safe, people drive reckless here and unfortunately many don't have any care in the world for stray animals and would not even care if they ran it over!

So he took it home to his parents house and gave the little guy a bath, fed it and played with it a little. Since I'm pregnant at the moment he decided not to bring it into our house because of the danger of it having toxoplasmosis or some other diseases. The kitten has found new kitten friends in the garden of his parents house where it has now a safe home and will be fed and get water everyday.

My husband is a good man, it warms my heart! You don't find men rescuing stray kittens on every corner. I'm very lucky to have such a kind-hearted man!

My interview on FHWS

Check out my interview on Tara Umm Omar's blog Future Husbands and Wives of Saudis here!

The interview was done originally by Umm Latifa of Arabya Saudyjska blog, but that version is in Polish :)

Thank you Umm Latifa and Tara!

Saudi-Arabia and VIP patients

Saudi-Arabia still has the outdated practice of VIP status, even in hospitals. To me as a Scandinavian this term of a "Very Important Person" just seems so antiquated and even ridiculous.

VIP as a concept does not exist in our society (exception some nightclubs VIP sections). Finland has always been a reformer and a pioneer in medical ethics. Back in 1964 the Declaration of Helsinki was developed and it is regarded as the cornerstone document of human research ethics.
If someone would declare themselves a VIP in Finnish society (which is highly unlikely) they wouldn't be taken seriously and it would be seen as nothing but a joke.

All patients receive the same treatment in our free or low cost government provided hospitals. Even Bill Clinton recently commented on the Finnish healthcare and schooling systems, saying "America should be more like Finland". Well I would have to agree!

For americans VIP patients are a more familiar concept. I googled it and found many articles from the States about VIP patients and how to treat them. I guess that might be where Saudis copied the system from, but here its implementation is far worse.The VIP in Saudi can be royal family member, a high ranking government or military official, a diplomat or just a person from a very rich family with serious wasta.

VIP and patient just don't go together. It's against all medical ethics. But in Saudi it seems to be like a normal thing accepted by everyone. To me it's like living in the medieval times.
Actually it wasn't always like this, VIP syndrome is definitely a result of the oil boom, sudden wealth and feeling of supremacy it brings to some Saudis. In fact during the medieval times Muslim hospitals were institutions which treated patients of all ethnic backgrounds and financial statuses equally. Including patients who were male and female, civilian and military, child and adult, rich and poor, and Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Muslim physicians were expected to have obligations towards their patients, regardless of their wealth or backgrounds. The ethical standards of Muslim physicians was first laid down in the 9th century by Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi, who wrote the Adab al-Tabib (Conduct of a Physician), the first treatise dedicated to medical ethics.Read more here.
So Muslims were way ahead of the west when it came to medicine back in the day and actually one of the features in medieval Muslim hospitals that distinguished them from their contemporaries was their higher standards of medical ethics.

As a Finnish nurse, dealing with these kind of VIP patients and their often silly requests needed some getting used to. I used to ask: Am I supposed to ramp up my quality of care as if I have multiple standards depending upon the prominence of the patient? Why is my job at risk if I choose to prioritize care according to my judgment leaving the VIP waiting for 10 minutes? How can I be genuinely compassionate to a person that treats me with disrespect and like a maid, not a professional?

I still do not to this day compromise the care of my other patients just because the VIP is requesting for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice or his or her shot of whichever drug they are addicted to. However I know many nurses who have lost their job because they didn't succumb to the whims of their VIPs. Some have been sent home the next day if the upset VIP was a high ranking royal. On the other hand nurses of Asian nationalities seem to take the VIP "seriously" and seem to be intimidated and will never question even their most absurd requests.

From the minute the VIP steps into the hospital, their whole course of stay will vary dramatically from the "ordinary patient".
They have their own entrance, clinic, ward, doctors and in the ER, they have a VIP fast track. Which means they will be treated first in all cases, even if there is a dying baby in the next room, the princess with the pimple  will be first priority. And yes they have come to ER for treatment of a pimple!

In case the patient is admitted, regardless of diagnosis he or she will most likely go to the designated VIP ward. Needless to say the rooms are huge and glamorous and anything the patient wants extra will be catered to. The problem I see with this is that in fact the patients are not necessarily receiving the best possible medical care. When patients from all medical fields are combined in one ward including deliveries and babies, the amount of knowledge and experience the staff should possess in order to equal the quality of care on the regular wards is enormous, even impossible to achieve. Some VIPs have realized this and request to be assigned onto the specific wards and "suffer" the consequences of smaller rooms.

Another issue that diminishes quality of care and slows down the treatment process is that physicians are reluctant to make diagnosis without consulting a multitude of specialties first. They are so terrified of making a mistake and loosing their jobs, they will be hesitant to start treatments further worsening the prognosis of the patient in some cases.

They will also prescribe drugs and treatments of no benefit or even harmful to the patient, just because the patient requests them. This is the case with drug addictions, there is no such thing as weaning the VIP off the drug and upsetting the patient.

What the patient does acquire with VIP status in addition to the larger room is 5 star hotel like service. This is assumed to be delivered by all personnel, from housekeeping, maintenance, food services and of course, nurses. The patient can order any type of food from the VIP kitchen 24/7, the can get extra golden armchairs and sofas brought in for visitors, if they need service of hairdresser or masseuse the nurse wll arrange them, their rooms are filled with flower assemblies reaching to the ceilings and in addition to all this have private nurses and maids serving them.
If the patient is not satisfied with the service provided they have their own representative in the hospital who will arrange any arising problems.

I've had many wonderful and genuine VIP patients that don't seem to be bothered of their status too much and are not overly demanding. But there are patients with a bad case of VIP syndrome, which can be a hassle for the staff to deal with.
My conclusion is VIP status does not in fact benefit the patient from the medical point of view but it serves more of an egoistic purpose.

Saudi-Arabia's Advanced Little Bro Kuwait

I recently visited Kuwait and was very surprised on how advanced they are compared to their neighbor Saudi-Arabia. I had an image in my mind of Kuwait as being a post war-zone developing country.

Although these countries share similar demographics, culture and history, they seem to be in different millenia when it comes to civilization and progress.

Although being in Kuwait seemed very similar than Saudi-Arabia, it was as if taking a step into the future. Perhaps in another 100 years KSA can catch up with this tiny but efficient and advanced Muslim country.

Kuwait is definitely more advanced in many areas, yet it has managed to preserve its culture and Islamic practises without becoming another Dubai or Bahrain.

In fact Kuwait ranks as the top Arab country in the HDI (Human Development Index). Unlike its "Big Brother", Kuwait is categorized as a developed country and also has the highest literacy rate of the Arab world.

Here's some things that work in Kuwait but Saudi lacks altogether or drags way behind in:

Infrastructure:

Kuwait and Saudi are barren lands surrounded by desert. However Kuwait City pleases the eye with roads enveloped in greenery, well trimmed trees and lawns. Roads and sidewalks not only exist, they are kept immaculate condition and they are clean from trash.

Public parks are everywhere and can be used by everyone. Saudi-Arabia has been catching onto this, but public parks and green scenery especially in Riyadh are very scarce. They have started many projects to improve this in Riyadh but the difference is in Kuwait you will forget you are actually in the middle of the desert.

The Kuwaiti Corniche is lined with parks, endless kilometers of boardwalk, public beaches, restaurants and entertainment areas. I wouldn't even call the one in Jeddah a Corniche, it's mostly dirty wasteland. Damman has a slightly more pleasant Corniche but nothing compared to the one in Kuwait.

Gender segregation

In Saudi all public places are segregated which cause a multitude of problems because it's against normal human nature.

Kuwaitis tend to their everyday business in a non-segregated environment, and all the problems related to harassment of women seen in Saudi are non-existent there. I did not see any men chasing women in cars, gawking and following them like they are prey in shopping malls, shouting or calling names or disturbing women in any way like they do in Saudi-Arabia.

Women are not forced to wear abayas and yet for some reason the young men are able to control themselves. Amazing! Perhaps the Saudi religious police could make a field trip to Kuwait and see how people actually manage to interact in a completely normal way without these constricting and suffocating elements they force on their people.

Tourism

Tourists are welcome in Kuwait, although the industry is not very advanced there, it surely is better than Saudi. A visa can be obtained from the airport for most nationalities.

For Saudi one will need a sponsor and the visa process is frustrating and long and once in the country lack of organised tourism makes exploring what the country has to offer very difficult.

Sponsor system

Both countries still have it for foreign employees, but Kuwait has plans to abolish it in February.

Empowering women
What it ultimately comes down to in my opinion is the amount of rights these two countries give their women. A country is as strong as its women are.
Women contributing to society is behind Kuwaits success and advancement.
By allowing women to live with equal human rights in society the country has prospered after the devastating incidents of the Gulf war.

Some recent advancements in women's rights in Kuwait:
Women can have their own passport without approval from husband which remains only a dream to Saudi women due to the slavery mahrem system.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8317921.stm

Women are allowed to vote and in 2009 four were elected to parliament. There are female ministers in Kuwait, but there is one as deputy minister in KSA too.

In both countries education of women is seen as important and they make up 70 % of the university students, yet Kuwait is the one enabling the women to use their knowledge for the benefit of society. The employment rates for women are 42.5% vs 14.5%. Saudi women tend to find jobs mainly as teachers, of other women, so benefiting the society as a whole and being seen working in public is very rare in KSA. In Kuwait, women are visible in public and working in various places in society.

What is the factor that enables Kuwait to take these major steps, yet Saudi always seems to need "babysteps" for any kind of progress? The answer can't be just the size differences. Kuwait has transformed itself from a bomb stricken land fill to a flourishing and modern Arab country proud of its heritage.

Saudi-Arabia could definitely take some lessons from its Little Brother!