RIYADH, 30 January 2008 — Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman yesterday renamed the Riyadh Medical Complex (RMC) as King Saud ibn Abdulaziz Medical Complex, while opening the first medical tower in the Saudi capital.
Inaugurating the tower, comprising administrative, academic and medical wings, Prince Salman said that the complex was being named after the late king in appreciation of his services to the nation.
“King Saud laid the foundation for this complex, which has been serving nationals and expatriates,” the prince said, adding that the whole nation is proud since the late king’s efforts have turned into an integrated medical tower to attend to the needs of Riyadh’s growing population.
Prince Salman said he hoped the new facility would offer needed services to Saudis as well as expatriates.
The new tower has 368 beds and a large Intensive Care Unit with 100 beds. The academic wing has an auditorium with a capacity for 500 seats and is equipped with a state-of-the-art medical library located adjacent to a multi-purpose conference hall where training programs will be conducted.
The prince also laid the foundation for a second tower to be built within the complex at a cost of SR173 million. The tower will have maternity and pediatric wards, with 500 beds for mothers. There will also be Primary Health Care Family Clinics and specialized consultancy services for mothers and children.
The governor formally announced the launch another hospital project in the north of Riyadh. The project is expected to cost SR215 million.
Meanwhile, a senior Health Ministry official said that pharmaceutical suppliers would not be affected by the government’s move to quote prices of imported medicines in Saudi riyals. The move comes as part of a Kingdomwide campaign to reduce the prices of medicines that begins on Friday.
The Kingdom will begin quoting the prices for imported medicines in riyals instead of US dollars from Feb. 1 in an attempt to avoid price fluctuations in the local market. “Considering the needs of the people, the Saudi leadership has introduced the new program which will benefit consumers but not at the cost of merchants,” said Ali Zawawi, general director for medical licenses and pharmaceutical affairs at the Ministry of Health.
The new procedure is being introduced to stabilize prices of medicines in the face of fluctuations in exchange rates. “By adopting such procedures, the ministry intends to stabilize the prices of medicines registered in Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that the ministry was keen that traders are not harmed as a result of the directive.
Zawawi said the program was being implemented following a study made by senior ministry officials in consultation with other ministries and legal experts.
According to the new directive, prices of all medicines that were registered in Saudi Arabia more than five years ago will be reduced by one percent each year after the specified date.
He added, however, that the prices of imported medicines, which are “important and have no alternatives.” will not be reduced. He said prices of new medicines manufactured abroad, as well as their substitutes that are less than SR20, would not be reduced. “Pharmaceutical companies which do not abide by the ministry’s directives will face fines,” the official added.
Zawawi also said that the ministry would monitor the quality of medicines sold in the market. “Random samples found in the pharmacies will be tested in our laboratories to ensure that the manufacturers maintain uniform quality,” Zawawi said, stressing that violators of this rule will be brought to book. Under a prevailing regulation, all medicines sold in the Kingdom are being tested in the ministry’s laboratories before being licensed.
