Saudi Arabia turns to private sector to fill healthcare void London – Arab Today The Saudi Ministry of Health has turned to the private sector to fill a void in healthcare specialising in dialysis services for diabetes sufferers. According to Aqeel Al-Ghamdi, undersecretary to the Ministry for Hospital Affairs, SR1.9 million (Saudi Riyal), approximately 170,000 GBP, has been budgeted for the national project which will provide funding for equipment and state-of-the-art services.
Al-Ghamdi said, “We hope to benefit from the experience of foreign specialists who are in active contact with renal patients to provide them with the best services”.
He added that the Ministry of Health had formed strategic partnerships with specialist private sector providers who will coordinate the initiative.
The ministry is to publish guidelines on what services are required, upon which private sector clinics would advise on what services they could provide.
The official from the health department said, “We want to use the best technology for the benefit of our patients and we would make dialysis services conform with the standards maintained in Europe and America.\"
The first stage of the project is to run for 24 months, and would cover all major cities in Saudi Arabia, he said, without naming which cities specifically.
The second stage is to cover a 12 month period, including smaller cities, and the final stage will last six months – for any areas which have been missed.
There are around 140 dialysis centers in the Kingdom, including 30 centers in Riyadh, 15 in Asir, 13 in Al-Qassim, 11 in Madinah and nine centers in the Eastern Province.