His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York, expressed his admiration of the health breakthroughs Saudi Arabic managed to accomplish over the past decades.
He particularly acclaimed the Kingdom for its excellence at Mass Gathering Medicine, which the Kingdom adopted throughout the world, pointing out that the Kingdom is one of the most experience countries in Mass Gathering Medicine, emphasizing the necessity of further cooperation to be conducted between the Kingdom and Britain in this domain.
This was mentioned during his meeting today with the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and a number of officials in the Ministry of Health.
Prince Andrew announced that a working group, headed by Lord Darzi – an eminent ambassador at UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) – accompanied by a medical team, will be visiting the Kingdome in early October, seeking to expand collaboration between the two counties.
Prince Andrew made clear that the UK welcomes cooperation with the Kingdom, and looks forward to intensifying the common efforts, and further strengthening the bond between them.
During the meeting, which was held at the meeting room in the Ministry Office, the great progress achieved in the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries was briefly looked over. They also discussed over the recent developments in the healthcare sector in the Kingdom, and the cooperation opportunities available for Britain.
The Minister of Health said, in a press statement following the meeting, that a number of important issues in health care have been discussed. Among the most notable of these issues were training, scholarships, and the possibility of increasing the number of medical scholarships in various specialties, especially the complicated one.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah was quoted as saying: "It was suggested that the two countries exchange their expertise in various medical specialties, and that we benefit from the British broad experience at the Visiting Doctor Program.
The British delegation expressed its willingness, and we agreed to create relations between the British advanced health centers, and those affiliated to the Saudi Ministry of Health, and discuss them with specialists in Britain.
As for partnership in the field of medical research between Saudi Arabia and Britain, Dr. Rabeeah described this issue as significant, saying: "Health research has been already discussed.Right now, there is a promising partnership between the University of Liverpool and the Saudi Ministry in field research, conducted at Medical Research Center at Jazan.However, we are looking forward for more."
At the end of the meeting, gifts were exchanged and commemorative photo were taken.