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Al-Falih Signs an Agreement with SABIC to Establish a Mental Health Hospital

25 May 2015

In the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Health Eng. Khalid Al-Falih and His Highness the Chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and Head of SABIC Co., Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thenayan Al-Saud, a Memo of Understanding (MOU) will be inked between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and SABIC Company to establish SABIC Specialized Hospital for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment in Riyadh at a value of SR 300 Million. The signing ceremony will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) Sha‘ban 8th 1436H, (corresponding to May 26th 2015) at SABIC headquarters in Riyadh.

Meanwhile, the signing of this memo comes as part of efforts exerted by the MOH and SABIC to boost the concept of partnership and social responsibility with community institutions and urge them to interact with the ministry's programs and support its activities aiming at serving all community members. As such efforts will contribute - Allah willing - to developing the health sector in a manner which will have a positive impact on the health services provided for the citizen, and developing health services in general.

It is worth mentioning that the MOH pays close attention to mental health services through developing and offering these services according to the latest techniques and health practices. In this regard, the MOH has a wide and advanced network of mental health services, represented in 23 hospitals for mental health with a capacity of 3,000 beds throughout the Kingdom's regions and provinces. This capacity is expected to reach 6,000 beds upon completion of the under-construction projects.

Additionally, the MOH has integrated mental health services within the other health services, as 85 clinics of mental health are currently operating in the public and specialized hospitals, in addition to mental health sections in the medical cities affiliated to the Ministry. That is to be added to a medical team of 718 physicians and more than 3000 nurses, who are currently working in the mental health hospitals. Meanwhile, the total number of visitors of mental health hospitals amounts up to more than 500,000, of whom 22,000 visitors are hospitalized annually.

Since its inception, SABIC has been accustomed to meeting its national commitments as part of its social responsibility strategy. To that effect, the company has invested more than SR 2.7 billion to develop the local community in the past 10 years by focusing on the following aspects: education, particularly in the field of science and technology, healthcare, environment protection, including water and sustainable agriculture, and community development through meaningful social programs. In this regard, SABIC has developed strategic programs to provide innovative initiatives and projects serving the health sector in general and mental health and addiction treatment, in particular.