H.E. the Health Minister, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, has reaffirmed his ministry interest in the private sector and its commitment to create the optimum investment environment for the health sector to make it more attractive. "The objective is to upgrade the Kingdom's position to compete with the most developed countries, through internal restructuring process, including the establishment of tasks to develop health investment and the launch of electronic licensing programs, which reduced license issuance span to few minutes" he said.
He pointed out to the launch of the self-evaluation system for the private health facilities, expanding the service purchase program for the private sector and renewing privatization programs for dialysis centers. He also pointed out to the completion of awarding tasks of extended care, home care and palliative care to the private sector, as one of MOH's objectives to boost the private sector contribution in health services. He said more attention and support is given to the entrepreneurship, and small and medium enterprises, because they are the main driver of the national economy. "The most important pillars of the conference is to raise awareness about the role of the entrepreneurship in the private sector with the participation of Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, he said, pointing that MOH has established a department dedicated to support entrepreneurship.
In the same vein, Al-Rabiah said that prevention tops the ministry's concern about the citizen health, in line with the Kingdom Vision 2030. Hence, the ministry has established the Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control and hosted the International Patient Safety Conference. He stressed that his ministry faces health challenges; as the individual loses about 14 years of life expectancy due to health risks.
In his speech during the inauguration of the Global Health Exhibition today (Wednesday) in Riyadh, he said that the ministry is paying its full attention to get the most out of the health potential and innovations. “2030’s Kingdom Vision in the health sector focuses on the importance of health care, the health care model, and health in all policies, which rely heavily on innovations.”
Addressing the Healthcare Leaders Conference, held at the sidelines of the forum, he said that the Ministry has four robots in Riyadh, Asir, Najran and Dammam that have performed more than 700 operations. Also, "Wasfaty" App was implemented at more than 400 healthcare centers, issuing over 600 electronic prescriptions, and establishing an electronic platform for radiotherapy medicine, 19 of which were delivered to peripheral hospitals, in addition to issuing some 8000 reports via the platform.
Dr. Al-Rabiah said that the Global Health Exhibition assimilated international experiences and aspired to contribute to the global dialogue on the challenges of the health system and the solutions available to serve the goal of universal health coverage and other sustainable development goals endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN. The organization of the Global Health Exhibition, he said, coincides with the accelerated steps the Kingdom is taking at all levels in order to assume its global position. He added that the Healthcare Leaders Conference includes an elite of local and international speakers to exchange knowledge and experiences in the organization and delivery of health care services, and ways to finance them globally.
Concluding his speech, Al-Rabiah thanked all attendees, speakers and companies for their participation and effective role in making the forum successful.