The Executive Committee of Healthcare Strategy has held its first meetings at the Health Services Council, under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Council, Dr. Yacoub bin Youssef Al-Mazrou, in the presence of the committee members and the CEOs of health sectors.
At first, Dr. Al-Mazrou welcomed the committee members, underscoring the necessity of this committee and its work, as it plays a pivotal role in the development of the health services provided for citizens.
It followed that the Deputy Secretary General of the Health Services Council, Dr. Abdullah Al-Hariri, gave a presentation in which he explained the establishment of the Council, and the entities represented in it, as well as its competencies and the tasks assigned to it. Then he gave an elaborate account of the development stages of the Council and its Secretariat as well as the national committees affiliated to it. He pointed out that the Council has launched “Tashawor Program”; a consultation program is meant to build bridges of communication and cooperation with scientific health associations. He added that the council is in contact with several institutions, among which are the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT), the Central Board for Accreditation for Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI), and the National Unified Procurement Company for Medical Supplies (NUPCO).
After that, Dr. Al-Hariri moved on to the electronic health programs developed by the Council; namely: Health Coding, unified electronic health records (EHR), and the eHealth Initiative (eHI). He also commended the colossal efforts aimed to complete the plans and requirements necessary for making success of the Healthcare Strategy, and applying it for 20 years ahead. Then, some organizational aspects were discussed, including the work requirements and priorities of the Committee, in addition to scheduling the meetings to come.
For his part, the Secretary General of the Council, Dr. Yacoub Al-Mazrou, expounded that the Healthcare Strategy takes as its goal the fulfillment of certain objectives, including finding new funding resources to work side by side with the government funding and contain costs. Among the objective, also, is developing health information systems, expanding the scope of their use and improving their quality, in addition to activating the MOH's role in supervising and monitoring performance, as well as developing health policies.
Dr. Al-Mazrou went on to say that the Healthcare Strategy seeks, also, to ensure the provision of health services for all citizens, and to ascertain that all health facilities undertakes the responsibilities assigned to them, in addition to enhancing the role of Private Sector to be parallel and integrative with the governmental role in funding, operating and providing health services. Another major objective is to promote health in its broadest sense, by developing the concept and activities of primary healthcare, and heightening the quality and efficiency of ambulatory services to the full in all regions and under all circumstances, in addition to the provision and development of curative, rehabilitative and referential services, and the balanced distribution of services, geographically and demographically.
It is worth mentioning that the Executive Committee of the Healthcare Strategy includes in its membership representative of the Ministry of Health (MOH), National Guard Health Affairs, the Armed Forces General Department for Medical Services, Security Forces Hospital, King Faisal Specialized Hospital (KFSH), Saudi Red Crescent Authority (SRCA), Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI), Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS), Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), and Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC).