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Dr. Al Rabeeah Launches New Ministry of Health Portal

30 May 2011

His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rabeeah, launched on Sunday the Ministry’s new Internet portal. This portal, available in Arabic and English versions (www.moh.gov.sa), is considered one of the National e-Health Project’s most distinguished achievements. The inauguration ceremony was attended by MOH deputies, members of the Board of Trustees at the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and members of the General Auditing Bureau.

“This breakthrough is a milestone in adopting government e-transactions. The strategic plan for the portal includes many objectives, but the major goal is to facilitate user transactions and inquiries by executing them electronically via the portal,” HE said, following the official launch.

Advisor to the Minister & General Supervisor of ICT, Dr. Mohammed R. Al Yemeni, stated that the role of the MOH’s new portal is not confined to providing information, electronic services and a view to the Ministry’s work; it is also a vital channel for ongoing interaction between the Ministry and portal visitors to develop and provide all services to the highest possible standards.

All development work carried out for the portal reflects the Ministry's dedication to putting the public first, and seeks to solidify the relationship between the Ministry and its beneficiaries to achieve the MOH’s major developmental goals.

Assistant General Supervisor of ICT, Dr. Abdullah Al Wehaibi, stressed that from square one the development of the portal was based on an integrated plan. This plan included a comprehensive analysis of the old portal and detailed requirements of development and improvement both in terms of design and content. The portal aims to meet the highest international standards while considering the needs of all portal users, including those with special needs.

He clarified that there are new electronic channels for participating in policy formulation and decision-making, including “Citizen Voice.”Citizen Voice System is may be used by visitors to ask questions, voice complaints or make comments or suggestions to any department in the Ministry. In addition, the new portal offers “Live Chat,” which enables users to discuss their concerns and suggestions with Ministry officials. Health Mobile and National e-Health Strategy are other vital components of the portal.

The MOH Portal Project Manager, Mr. Rayan Al Fayez, emphasized that the portal also provides the “Geographic Information System,” to allow each visitor to search for health facilities by geographic coordinates, facility name and distance of the health facility from their location. Accurate maps are also available to each facility.

Mr. Al Fayez added that the portal uses the latest technologies to facilitate the visitor’s access to portal content. These technologies are compatible with most known web browsers, and also offer mobile applications and handheld versions to provide portal services via various consumer devices.

In addition, the portal also provides the “Automatic Reader Service,” which provides text-to-voice access to MOH portal content for the visually impaired. This service can be activated by clicking on the service icon on the tool bar displayed at the top of the page. MOH is dedicated to providing even more tools for people with vision disabilities in the future.

The portal also allows visitors to change text size, enabling the visually impaired to read more clearly. There is also an option for choosing the portal’s display color, assisting people with color vision deficiency to browse content more easily by converting the portal’s color to grayscale.

Mr. Al Fayez added that the portal also provides an inquiry service. This service provides information about MOH tenders, enabling users to find basic information about the tender, including name and description, flotation date, the last date to receive offers, the date for opening bids, tender status, etc. This service also provides a search mechanism for tenders floated by the Ministry according to several criteria.