Health care system in Saudi Arabia: an overview

The government of Saudi Arabia has given high priority to the development of health care services at all levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. As a consequence, the health of the Saudi population has greatly improved in recent decades. However, a number of issues pose challenges to the health care system, such a shortage of Saudi health professionals, the health ministry's multiple roles, limited financial resources, changing patterns of disease, high demand resulting from free services, an absence of a national crisis management policy, poor accessibility to some health care facilities, lack of a national health information system, and the underutilization of the potential of electronic health strategies. This paper reviews the historical development and current structure of the health care system in Saudi Arabia with particular emphasis on the public health sector and the opportunities and challenges confronting the Saudi health care system.

The nursing profession in Saudi Arabia: an overview

AIM

The study aims to provide an overview of the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia, including its history, educational development, workforce and professional practice.

BACKGROUND

Saudi Arabia is faced with a chronic shortage of Saudi nurses, accompanied by high rates of turnover. Expatriate nurses form a large proportion of the nursing workforce in Saudi healthcare facilities, with Saudis comprising only 29.1% of the total nursing workforce. Despite the fact that the proportion of Saudi nurses is very low in general, this rate is lower in the private health sector where local nurses comprise only 4.1% of the total.

METHODS

Data relating to the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia were extracted from published literature identified through search of a range of publically available databases such as Medline, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Saudi health databases, Saudi health journals, government reports and relevant texts. Obtained information was evaluated for relevance and grouped on a thematic basis.

CONCLUSION

The status of nursing in Saudi Arabia should be enhanced in order to make it a worthwhile career. The media should engage in helping to promote a positive image of the nursing profession. The education sector should reconsider the length of nursing training (5 years compared with 3 years in many developed countries) while maintaining competent and safe practice. Reducing the financial burden on the nursing student through provision of additional financial support would encourage more students. In particular, nurses should be paid a full salary during the intern year as currently occurs with medical students.

COVID-19 vaccine had a significant positive impact on patients with SARS-COV-2 during the third (Omicron) wave in Saudi Arabia

INTRODUCTION

The third (Omicron) wave had caused significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases around the globe. The severity of the disease dependeds on the extent of the vaccination status.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study of infected COVID-19 patients during the third (Omicron) wave in a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

RESULTS

A total of 400 patients were included with 220 (55 %) males and 180 (45 %) females, and a mean age (+/- SD) of 36.34 + 16.47 years. The most common presenting symptoms were: sore throat 159 (39.8 %), cough 158 (39.5 %), fever 132 (33 %), headache 122 (30.5 %), and muscle ache 124 (31%). There was no difference in underlying conditions, signs and symptoms between males and females apart from the occurrence of sore throat with an OR of 2.014 (95 % CI: 1.103-3.677, P = 0.023) and need of hospitalization OR 2.457 (95 % CI: 1.168-5.167, P value =.018) in a binary logistic regression comparison. The need for hospitalization was inversely related to the number of COVID-19 vaccination doses. The rate of admission was 8 (72.7 %), 34 (12 %), 4 (5.4 %) for one, two, and three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, respectively (P < 0.0001). Of all the patients, 14 (3.5 %) and 8 (2 %) required intensive care (ICU) admission and mechanical ventilation, respectively. The median Ct-value of SARS-CoV-2 was higher in those who had 2 or 3 doses compared to those who had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. None of the included patients died during the study period.

CONCLUSION

Omicron variant symptoms among infected patients are generally milder compared to other variants. Prior COVID-19 vaccination may limit disease severity and need for hospitalization.

Engineering Metal-Organic Frameworks with Tunable Colors for High-Performance Wireless Communication

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as excellent platforms possessing tunable and controllable optical behaviors that are essential in high-speed and multichannel data transmission in optical wireless communications (OWCs). Here, we demonstrate a novel approach to achieving a tunable wide modulation bandwidth and high net data rate by engineering a combination of organic linkers and metal clusters in MOFs. More specifically, two organic linkers of different emission colors, but equal molecular length and connectivity, are successfully coordinated by zirconium and hafnium oxy-hydroxy clusters to form the desired MOF structures. The precise change in the interactions between these different organic linkers and metal clusters enables control over fluorescence efficiency and excited state lifetime, leading to a tunable modulation bandwidth from 62.1 to 150.0 MHz and a net data rate from 303 to 363 Mb/s. The fabricated color converter MOFs display outstanding performance that competes, and in some instances surpasses, those of conventional materials commonly used in light converter devices. Moreover, these MOFs show high practicality in color-pure wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), which significantly improved the data transmission link capacity and security by the contemporary combining of two different data signals in the same path. This work highlights the potential of engineered MOFs as a game-changer in OWCs, with significant implications for future high-speed and secure data transmission.

Breeding ecology of the laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) in the Taif City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) is a columbid bird commonly found throughout most of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India and Australia. Its preferred habitat includes scrubland, agricultural lands, and human settlements. Despite this species' extensive breeding range, very little information is available regarding its breeding ecology. The main objective of this study was to investigate the breeding features of the Laughing Dove in Taif City, Saudi Arabia between March and May 2018 and December 2018 and May 2019. The results indicate that this species constructs its nests at a mean height of 2.74 ± 0.1 m from the ground. The average number of nesting materials used for building a Laughing Dove nest was 109.3 ± 11.25. This study recorded that this species starts breeding in the middle of February. A clutch of two eggs comprised 72% of all the nests, with a mean of 1.75 ± 0.06 eggs per clutch. The average egg size was 25.27 ± 0.43 mm x 20.25 ± 0.19 mm, with an average egg volume of 5.01 ± 0.13 cm3. In total, 39.5% of the eggs hatched, and 64.7% of hatchlings reached the fledgling stage, resulting in an overall breeding success of 25.6%. This study suggested that nest desertion and predation were the major factors contributing to nest failure.

Notes on the biological development of the darkling beetle Blaps nefrauensis nefrauensis Seidlitz, 1893 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Several endemic species of Blaps occur in Tunisia, and the species Blaps nefrauensis nefrauensis has been reported in Moulares (urban zone in west-central Tunisia), where it lives and reproduces in home gardens and old buildings. The aim of this work is to study the life cycle of the darkling beetle, considering both field and laboratory rearing conditions. As a result, the beetle species has different developmental stages (egg, larva, prepupa, pupa, and adult) that last about 15 months. Each year during the same period, adults emerge (early summer) and expire (late autumn), larvae hatch (late summer) and pupate (early summer). There is only one generation per year. Females began laying eggs in late July. The eggs were ovoid, white, and about 2.7 mm in length and 1.5 mm in width. Embryogenesis took an average of nine days. The first instar larvae were at initially only 4.5 mm long and ivory white in color. A brief description of the newly egg hatched larva was provided; thus, the nerve fibers innervating the apical setae in the antennae and ligula were detected. Further light microscopic examination of the embryo before hatching from the egg pointed out that the antennal sensilla are protected during the embryogenesis stage.

Ba/Ti MOF: A Versatile Heterogeneous Photoredox Catalyst for Visible-Light Metallaphotocatalysis

The field of sustainable heterogeneous catalysis is evolving rapidly, with a strong emphasis on developing catalysts that enhance efficiency. Among various heterogeneous photocatalysts, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained significant attention for their exceptional performance in photocatalytic reactions. In this context, contrary to the conventional homogeneous iridium or ruthenium-based photocatalysts, which face significant challenges in terms of availability, cost, scalability, and recyclability, a new Ba/Ti MOF (ACM-4) is developed as a heterogeneous catalyst that can mimic/outperform the conventional photocatalysts, offering a more sustainable solution for efficient chemical processes. Its redox potential and triplet energy are comparable to or higher than the conventional catalysts, organic dyes, and metal semiconductors, enabling its use in both electron transfer and energy transfer applications. It facilitates a broad range of coupling reactions involving pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and natural products, and is compatible with various transition metals such as nickel, copper, cobalt, and palladium as co-catalysts. The effectiveness of the ACM-4 as a photocatalyst is supported by comprehensive material studies, photophysical, and recycling experiments. These significant findings underscore the potential of ACM-4 as a highly versatile and cost-effective photoredox catalyst, providing a sustainable, one-material solution for efficient chemical processes.