Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, state minister and commander of the National Guard, yesterday opened a forum organized by NG Health Affairs and King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, and hoped the forum would contribute to improving the quality of health care services and patient safety. He underscored the tremendous progress achieved by the Kingdom’s health sector, adding Saudi Arabia has become a regional and international health care hub providing advanced medical services. “This conference is a good opportunity for Saudi medical practitioners to make use of international experts, keep them updated with new developments in the area of patient safety and improve health services matching international standards,” the minister said. Prince Miteb stressed NG Health Affairs’ efforts to ensure the quality of health care and promote health education and training programs through established institutions like King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Dr. Saad Taher, executive director of medical services at King Abdul Aziz Medical City, said patient safety is the cornerstone of health care. He thanked Prince Miteb for opening the event, adding his presence reflected the cohesion of the Saudi leadership and people. Dr. Abdul Majeed Al-Abdul Kareem, vice president of the university for academic studies, highlighted the importance of the conference, saying about 98,000 deaths take place at US hospitals every year because of a lack of proper patient care. “This situation has turned world attention toward the need for providing extra care to patients to avoid further complications,” he said. The three-day conference would discuss best practices in the treatment of patients and taking precautionary measures. Experts from Saudi Arabia and abroad will speak on various topics and conduct workshops. He emphasized the need to learn new developments in the fast-progressing medical technology. “This demands continuous medical education. It is the moral duty of all medical practitioners,” he said. Al-Abdul Kareem thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Naif for their continuous support to educational, medical and scientific programs. Bandar Al-Qanawi, executive director of health affairs and president of the university, said patient safety is the main concern of most medical institutions all over the world.