Within the framework of the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to promote the public health in an endeavor to protect and develop health of society, His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, has launched the second phase of both Farhati (My Happiness) and Mother and Child Health Passport programs Thursday at the Grand Ballroom of MOH headquarter.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah underscored that the Ministry strives to offer the latest programs in the field of prevention as well as health promotion and awareness, adding that the MOH will complete the second phase of both Farhati and Mother and Child Health Passport programs, which are concerned with the maternal and child health care during pregnancy and childbirth.
Meanwhile, Dr. Al-Rabeeah expected for such programs to contribute, Allah willing, to reducing the incidence of diseases, accelerating the speed of diagnosis, and reducing mortality rates during pregnancy, childbirth, and growth of the child.
Within the same vein, His Excellency Dr. Al-Rabeeah has expressed his pleasure for launching the two programs, considering them as an important social step in the record of the Ministry. The Minister pointed out that the programs, which will be applied to all MOH's hospitals and primary health care centers all over the Saudi regions and provinces, will focus on the development and promotion of maternal and child health, indicating that the Ministry adopts many other awareness programs that serve the interests of the citizen and achieve the comprehensive and integrated health care for him.
On the other hand, the content team of MOH Portal has been honored on the sidelines of the ceremony in the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Health, for winning the first place after achieving 100% among the websites of the other governmental entities participating in the assessment as part of the Kingdom's preparations to upgrade its position in the UN Global E-government Readiness Report for 2014.
The e-Government Program (Yesser) has hand over certificates of appreciation to the content team of the MOH Portal and commented their sincere efforts, which reflected positively on the level of assessment of the Ministry of Health through this result; as the Ministry managed to win the first place, exceeding other twelve governmental entities, with an achievement rate of 100%.
For his part, The Director-General of Public Relations, Media and Health Awareness, Dr. Khaled bin Mohammed Marghalani, pointed out that the launch of the second phase of the programs are emanated from the MOH's vision to achieve health in its comprehensive concept at all levels for individuals, family and society, adding that the two programs are complementary to each other, and they aim at monitoring the maternal and child health starting from the pregnancy period and its healthy developments, to the child's birth and up to 5 years of age.
Dr. Marghalani highlighted that the Mother and Child Health Passport program is considered an integrated health record to monitor the condition of the mother and her child, adding that through this program, the required information can be inserted in cooperation and coordination with providers of health services from both the public and private sectors; in order to establish a basis to provide essential services for pregnant women during the period that precedes the child's birth and for infants during the early period of growth.
Within the same vein, Dr. Marghalani pointed out that such services include the processes of assessment and intervention whose effectiveness was proven through randomized tests performed by World Health Organization (WHO), in addition to raising the level of health services so as to be commensurate with the condition of the family in the Middle East.
Moreover, Dr. Marghalani underscored that the program (Farhati) works on the development of nutritional awareness among mothers, more importantly, the breastfeeding and its importance, the signals issued by the child to be breast-fed, the comfortable conditions for the child during breastfeeding, the ways to strengthen the baby's immune system and the mechanism to deal with a child who prefers certain kinds of foods. That is to be added to the manner of accustoming children to respect the eating habits and considering its time among the lovely times, as well as working on reminding parents of the dates of the basic vaccinations for children.
Dr. Marghalani pointed out that both programs will be applied to all MOH's hospitals and primary health care centers all over the regions, adding that the programs target approximately 350 thousand mothers and children. Meanwhile, Dr. Marghalani referred to the possibility of access to more than 600 thousand mothers and children, through application to all health sectors in the Kingdom and across the Council of Health Services (CHS).
Within the same vein, Dr. Marghalani added that the expected results of the programs include reduction of the rate of deaths and illness among mothers and their infants aging less than five years, as well as early detection of disabilities and health disorders in newborns. The Ministry aims, through the programs, to improve communication between health care providers and beneficiaries and to improve the quality of care provided for pregnant women and children.
It should be noted that the Ministry launched the first phase of the two programs the last year under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Health, and sought to establish training courses for health workers in the centers affiliating to the MOH and the private sector to help them deal with the two programs in a professional manner.