RIYADH: The budget presented by Custodian of the Two Mosques King Adbullah will help the Ministry of Health provide improved and integrated health services in the Kingdom, according to Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah.
The budget projected expenditures at SR540 billion and revenues at SR470 billion. It has allocated SR260 billion for new welfare projects and SR137 billion for education. It allocated SR61 billion for health and social development.
Describing it as an excellent budget which looks to all strata of society, Al-Rabeeah said it would help his ministry improve the health services for the benefit of both nationals and residents.
“Under the wise guidance of the monarch and Crown Prince Sultan, I hope to provide equal opportunities in health services throughout the Kingdom.”
With the allocations in the new budget, the ministry will build eight new hospitals equipped with 200 to 800 beds. These hospitals will include pediatric and maternity wards.
Under this program, some of the new hospitals will be specialized ones where advanced medical facilities will be available. He added that the ministry hoped to renovate 19 existing hospitals in various parts of the Kingdom and provide them with state-of-the-art facilities for better health services.
The minister pointed out that with the provision in the new budget, the Ministry of Health would increase the number of primary health-care centers in the Kingdom and extend its services to the people.
The minister emphasized that the Ministry of Health would maintain a uniform level of services at all government hospitals and that these would be on a par with the international standards.
The minister said that he hoped to develop the local human resources and would help the Saudi health professionals develop their skills in their respective fields in order to assist people who seek medical aid from the government.
The minister also stressed that his ministry would intensify its Saudization programs and would try to employ more Saudis by phasing out expatriate medics and paramedics. The ministry depends largely on expatriate doctors nurses to staff its rural hospitals.