RIYADH: The Ministry of Health said Sunday a wide range of information related by the Shoura Council is not accurate. The ratio of beds per 1,000 people of the population is 2.15, almost three times what a Shoura Council member said, it claimed adding there are 34,580 beds and the number of hospitals handed over to it since 2009 has reached 33, with a total of 4,120 beds. The ministry said it expects to add more than 30 hospitals, with a total of 5,000 beds, in the next two years; the hospitals are about 80 percent complete, officials said. These clarifications have come in response to published reports about criticism by some Shoura Council members during a recent discussion of the Ministry of Health's annual report. Earlier this month, members of the Shoura Council said the Ministry of Health has not solved problems such as shortages of facilities, beds, medicines, supplies, staff and equipment. Ministry officials emphasized their efforts to provide comprehensive, integrated health services as the organization receives substantial government support. Information presented in the Shoura Council is nearly three years old and the ministry continues to execute programs that have greatly improved health services, officials said. Eighteen hospitals were inaugurated in 2009, seven in 2010 and eight in 2011, officials said, adding that it started operating 671 new health centers, with 207 more to come. There are 878 new primary health centers out of a planned 1,010; with these additions, the number of health centers will increase by 42 percent. When the plan was launched, tenders were invited for 382 new centers, but construction of 227 was postponed due to the lack of land, the ministry said. In the last three years, 450 new primary health centers were constructed as part of the National Project for Integrated and Comprehensive Health Care, it added. Addressing contentions about medicine shortages, the ministry said the state boosted the medicine budget to SR3.75 billion this year, which will enable it to provide all medicine in its manual. The ministry also said it employed 18,000 doctors and female nurses last year and 4,500 others during the last six months. It also expanded a program for visiting doctors and there are now 1,000 of them, from European countries and the USA, in all specializations, officials said. The ministry said it allocated SR500 million in its budget to replace medical equipment and SR200 million for non-medical appliances. In the last two years, it said it received 600 modern ambulances, 300 more are on the way and tenders were issued for another 375. Twenty-one hospitals have passed quality standards and criteria, and obtained the certificate of the Central Board for Accreditation of Health Care Institutions, said officials, who have enacted self-assessments of quality and safety programs. The ministry said it is also developing technical and administrative programs in technology, health-information systems and e-health, which will further improve performance.
