We're today celebrating one of the glorious days in our honorable history, as it commemorates one of the dearest occasions to all of us, of which we're so proud: it is the seventh anniversary of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. We would like to congratulate ourselves, rather than the Commander of the Development Process, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, May Allâh protect them. We have been blessed with a king know for his unique character, farsightedness and his great concern about all that's good to his nation and subjects. He has been placing particular emphasis on all the aspects that have to do with people's life and prosperity; most importantly health, education, housing, and all development-associated services, such as the industrial boom and the excellent national and international relations.
There is a consensus that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the prosperous reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, has been enjoying unprecedented security, safety, contentment, welfare and prosperity. His well-known prudent statement: “Nothing is more precious than people's health” has delivered a crystal-clear message, to the effect that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques looks upon health as one of his top priorities, and that he spares no effort to improve health services provided to citizens.
Another saying by His Royal Highness King Abdullah, delivered before the MOH Officials when they submitted to him the National Project for Comprehensive and Integrated Healthcare, was: “I am strenuously backing whatever serves citizens' health.”
At the Royal Direction of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Ministry of Health has set its strategic plan, recently launched, for the ten years to come, assigning the tasks of each MOH sector, along with mechanisms of application. The Ministry intends to double the culminative number of beds, from 33.000 to 66.000 beds by the end of this plan. This expansion will be followed by comprehensive development and enormous increase of primary healthcare centers in terms of ambulatory services, in coordination with the Saudi Red Crescent Authority.
Moreover, the Ministry has managed to achieve a paradigm shift in quality programs. To that end, it has introduced and developed several programs to improve quality (both medical and administrative), such as the Patient Rights and Relations Program, now staffed by over 1200 employees, in addition to the Home Medicine Program, meant to provide high-quality medical services for patients at their homes, help their families, and provide the required medical equipment. To date, more than 15.000 patients have benefitted from this program. That's to be added to the Bed Management Program, and the Day Surgery Program. The number of day-surgeries conducted over the year 1432H mounted to 50.000 surgeries. Furthermore, this program proved successful in improving day-surgeries by 33% in most MOH hospitals. One of the important programs, also, is the Visiting Doctor Program which has attracted 1.323 consultant doctors, so far, to serve patients based in peripheral regions.
As a matter of fact, the National Project for Integrated and Comprehensive Healthcare stands out as the cornerstone of the strategic plan. It has been prepared in accordance with national and international standards, in addition to the development of IT programs, as well as the quality and safety programs, seeking to preserve patients' health and safety. The Project involved, besides, the development of workforce, generally looked upon as the cornerstone of health services development.
Moreover, the Ministry of Health is undergoing a vigorous activity in the field of construction. The total cost of the progressing establishment of health facilities throughout the Kingdom is SR 43.038.582 billion, out of which a sum of SR 20.636.382 billion is dedicated to hospitals and medical cities, a sum of SR 1.168.200 billion for specialized centers, and SR 700 million for the provision of 250 ICU beds.
Medical cities are reckoned a crucial episode in the health development process, which comes within the framework of the keen interest show by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to people's health, and his ongoing endeavors to alleviate the patients' suffering, by avoiding much travelling form peripheral regions to cities seeking to receive the proper treatment. To that end, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has approved supporting the MOH with SR 16 billion, allocated to the establishment of five medical cities providing fourth-level health care services. These cities are: King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, intended to serve the Central Region, King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC) in Makkah, intended to serve the Western Region, King Faisal Medical City (KFMC), intended to serve the Southern Region, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Medical City, intended to serve the Northern Region, and King Khalid Medical City, intended to serve the Eastern Region. These medical cities include a number of specialized hospitals, oncology centers, neurological centers, as well as surgery centers prepared for conducting sophisticated and critical cardiac surgeries, radiotherapy, organ transplantation, eye transplantation and other rare specialties.
In the end, I pray for Allâh Almighty to bestow health on the Commander of the Development Process, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz. I pray for Allâh, also, to perpetuate the safety and stability of our dear Kingdom, and help us fulfill their expectations and aspirations. He listens and responds.