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Qatar: Health centre for workers this month

Hundreds of expatriate workers based in the Industrial Area, Abu Nakhla and the neighbouring localities will soon have easier access to quality healthcare as a new primary health centre exclusively catering to single workers is all set to open in Abu Nakhla.

The facility, the second of its kind in the country, will start offering services to the targeted group by the end of this month, a senior official of the Supreme Council of Health (SCHSCH) has said.

The(SCHSCH) has tied up with Qatar Red Crescent to implement the project.

The new health centre is expected to reduce pressure on Hamad General Hospital and the sole expatriate clinic in Doha located in Doha Jadeed. Abu Nakhla was selected for the project due to its high concentration of expatriate workers. The facility is a prelude to another major project of the (SCHSCH) to set up three hospitals and five health centres targeting single workers, said Dr Faleh Mohamed Hussein, assistant secretary general for policy affairs at the (SCHSCH)

"The (SCHSCH) had signed an agreement with Qatar Red Crescent to establish a new health centre for labourers in Abu Nakhla by the end of this year. The facility, to be operated by the Red Crescent, is expected to offer its services by the end of this month," said Hussein, in a statement issued after a visit to the facility. He said a pressing need for more healthcare facilities for single workers had prompted the (SCHSCH) to rush with the project. It will provide a solution to the problem until the proposed hospitals and health centres for labourers are ready.

He said work on the ambitious project was in progress and it was currently in the design stage. The project will be implemented in partnership with the private sector. It would benefit about 700,000 workers across the country, about 90 percent of whom are aged between 25 and 50 years. The new health centre will include facilities for internal medicine, treatment of chronic diseases, ophthalmology, emergency care, social and psychological care, a dental clinic, x-ray, a laboratory, a pharmacy and other services.

In the initial phase, the facility will function on all days except Mondays.

The working hours will be 7am to 2pm and 4pm to 11pm. On Fridays, the centre will open only in the morning, from 7am to 11am.

© The Peninsula 2010