King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital has become a member of the International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services (HPH) this year 2008. The WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion in Hospitals and Health Care in Copenhagen grants its Membership Certificate to hospitals and health centers for four-year intervals based on specific international standards set by HPH. This makes KKESH the first hospital in the Middle East and North Africa Region to receive this certificate.
Health Promotion is defined as, "The process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health,"(Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion), and is here understood to embrace health education, disease prevention, and rehabilitation services. It is also understood to include health enhancement by empowering patients, relatives and employees in the improvement of their health-related physical, mental and social well-being.
These standards are the result of series of workshops and consultations. They have been piloted in 36 hospitals in nine European countries and were assessed to be relevant and applicable. These standards are applied in most of Europe, United States, Australia, and South Africa under the supervision of HPH, established in Copenhagen in 2005.
The mission of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion in Hospitals and Health Care is to support the development of hospitals and other health care institutions world-wide into healthy and health promoting settings. HPH Membership Certificate is granted after meeting the following dimensions and standards: