The Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah applauded the unlimited support to the health sector rendered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his Crown Prince - may Allah protect them - to contribute to realizing many achievements and improving health service provided for citizens.
In a press release following the announcement of this year's budget, Dr. Al-Rabiah added; "The budget brings auspicious tidings and features several projects for advancing the health work process in our beloved country and upgrading the performance level at health facilities".
Pointing to the health system's initiatives, he said that the institutional transformation helps the Ministry of Health (MOH) to focus on regulating and supervising the sector, rather than providing and financing services, as the healthcare services are provided through health communities, including (primary healthcare centers, hospitals, medical cities and specialized hospitals) in an endeavor to reduce waiting times and to enable health institutions to take decisions as quick as possible. MOH's achievements in 2018 included facilitating access to health services via the (937) cervices center, receiving over 3,000,000 calls in 2018, 400,000 bookings, 200,000 notifications and 1,200,000 medical consultations. As well, more than 260,000 remote medical consultations were received through the e-health «Seha» application, and "Mawid" service was launched to manage appointments at healthcare centers and hospitals, with 8,000,000 appointments booked by 4,000,000 beneficiaries.
An oncology center was inaugurated in Arar, bone morrow treatment services launched in Riyadh and Makkah and an oncology clinic was inaugurated in Jazan and Makkah, he said, adding that oncology units will be opened in 4 regions in 2019. He pointed out that 9 cardiac catheterization service centers were opened across the Kingdom's regions, namely: Al-Baha, Al-Qassim, Tabuk, Al-Jouf, Al-Taif, Makkah, Al-Qurayyat and Riyadh. Also, cardiac centers were increased from 13 to 22 centers and referral of cases outside the region was reduced by 56% within 2 years.
"1,262 organ transplantation surgeries were conducted across the Kingdom including 6 pancreas transplants, 4 intestinal transplants, 34 lung transplants, 943 kidney transplants, 249 liver transplants, and 26 heart transplants. In addition, the rate of diagnosing new born hearing, heart and metabolic diseases increased from 58% in 2016 to 96% in 2018, in addition to the examination of more than 210,000 people compared to 67,000 in 2017, leading to early detection of 16,000 cases compared to 5,000 in 2017", Al-Rabiah adds.
He indicated that more than 3 million persons have been immunized against influenza in 2018 compared to 600,000 persons in 2015, and a hepatitis C eradication campaign was launched and provision of treatment for patients expanded and surveying examinations conducted for 40,000 persons, in addition to installation of 590 insulin pumps for children and adults with type 1 diabetes. He said that specialized diabetes centers reached 24 centers across the Kingdom's regions, pointing out that 150 indicators were implemented to improve performance via MOH's Performance Program «Adaa’»; thus, reducing the average wait-time at clinics from 59 to 24.7 days and improving less than 4 hours wait-time at emergency from 36% to about 88%. Also, the average hospitalization days at ICU reduced from 6.7 to 5.6 days, an equivalent of 16% additional beds at ICU.
According to Al-Rabiah, 19 health projects are ready for inauguration in 2018 and 2019, including hospitals and medical towers across the Kingdom. These projects represent an outstanding addition to the health service system and will contribute to improving these services and advancing the health work process.
Concluding his statement, he prayed to Allah to protect the country, its leadership and citizens, and to perpetuate the grace of security and stability.