The present team of 560 health officials deployed under the Home Healthcare Program (HHP) of the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be increased to 1,000 because of the rising number of patients, the supervisor general of the Ministry of Health’s Home Healthcare Program said in Riyadh on Tuesday. Around 180 medical teams from 113 hospitals look after the health needs of 12,848 patients throughout the Kingdom, Nasser Bin Saleh Al-Hozaim said as he was addressing the medical directors of the 20 health regions who have been working under the HHP. “Considering the increasing number of such patients, the MOH has geared up to serve them with enhanced number of health officials,” he said. Stressing the significance of the program, Al-Hozaim said that it is an important program developed by the MOH to provide health care (curative, preventive, rehabilitative, awareness) for patients in their own homes. “The palliative care is for patients with tumors, chronic diseases and its complications such as hypertension, diabetes, heart and chronic respiratory diseases, patients with ulcers, wounds, feeding tubes, injuries in the nervous system, strokes, patients with urinary tract infection and users of urinary catheters,” he added. The official said 32 percent of the patients covered under the program suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac and renal diseases. Twenty percent are Alzheimer’s and psychiatric patients, 13 percent are paralytics, 10 percent suffer from diabetic foot diseases and 2 percent from malignant diseases. Al-Hozaim said that on a special directive from Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, 80 vehicles have been mobilized to help health officials who visit homes regularly to monitor the health of patients covered under the program. “Some of the officials visit patients living in remote places in the Kingdom,” he noted. According to a recent NCB report, the Kingdom’s population will reach an estimated 31 million by 2015. The number of Saudis past the retirement age of 60 will grow by 27 percent by 2015, the report said, adding this age group will account for approximately 4.7 percent of the total population in 2015, or 1.36 million individuals — an increase from the current 4.4 percent. This will lead to an increase in demand for high-cost medical care necessary to treat more serious diseases typically faced by older patients. The United Nations estimates Saudi life expectancy will increase to 73.8 years by 2015, provided demographic trends remain the same. Based on population projections, outpatient visits and inpatient admissions are expected to reach 159 million visits and 4 million admissions respectively by 2015. The Business Monitor International’s Burden of Disease Database examines the total number of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to disease and injury annually. It indicates that by 2015, approximately 3.4 million DALYs will be lost to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Kingdom. In the short-term, increased incidences of NCDs will increase per capita health care costs, causing health insurance claims to rise for these patients. Meanwhile, according to a report released on Tuesday by the MOH, its pavilion at the ongoing Janadriyah cultural festival has recorded 1,683 visitors who had undergone on-the-spot clinical tests at its stall. Besides 90 visitors who donated blood, 149 people were screened for osteoporosis, 200 for carbon monoxide (smoking), 200 for hypertension, 110 for renal functioning (creatinine) and 100 for glucose levels. A total of 234 visitors were offered counseling on various health problems, the report added.