The statement was made by Health Ministry spokesman Khalid Al-Mirghalani in response to a news item in the local newspapers quoting the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Makkah, which said there is a shortage of hospital beds in the western region, which has a population of 4 million.

Thanking the Human Rights Commission for its keen interest shown on the health services in the region, the spokesman clarified that the ministry under the guidance of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah provides the maximum health services through its various facilities spread throughout the Kingdom.

Citing statistics from the Central Department of Statistics and Information, he explained that in Jeddah, under the care of the Ministry of Health, there are 2,135 hospital beds to cater to a population of 3.43 million.

However, he added that the ministry had embarked on an ambitious plan to build more hospitals and medical towers, which would give an additional number of 2,170 beds. The proposed projects would include 500 beds in a hospital north of Jeddah, 300 in a medical tower in the east of Jeddah, 270 beds at the King Fahd Hospital, 500 beds in a medical tower for psychiatric patients, 400 beds in a children's and maternity hospital, and 200 beds in an eye hospital. The first three projects are to be completed by the end of this year, the statement said, adding that the other projects would be completed next year.

To develop the intensive care for the patients, he said, plans are under way to add 84 beds to the existing Intensive Care Unit of the King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah.

The total number of beds available in the public and private sector hospitals has reached 7,135 in the Jeddah governorate, and 2,170 more beds will be added to the present capacity.

Furthermore, the spokesman said the ministry had spent over SR40 million for the medical expenses of citizens who were transferred from government to private sector hospitals.

Recently, during the launch of SR2 billion on health projects in Hail, Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said the ministry had chalked out a strategic plan for the implementation of several health projects throughout the Kingdom.

As part of the SR16 billion budget allocated for the health sector by King Abdullah, Al-Rabeeah had so far signed 35 contracts worth more than SR4.4 billion since January this year.

In early January, the ministry signed more than SR3 billion worth of contracts with 30 private sector companies for health projects. They included the construction of hospitals, supply of pharmaceutical products and equipment, biomedical engineering projects, hospital supplies and furnishing of newly built hospitals throughout the Kingdom.

Subsequently, SR1.4 billion worth of projects were signed, which included the first stage of the King Faisal Medical City in the southern region, construction of a 15-floor tower at a cost of SR448 million, a SR252 million contract for a children's and maternity hospital with a capacity of 300 beds in Sakaka, Al-Jouf, and installation of generators and elevators in several Ministry of Health facilities throughout the country.

The Kingdom has an integrated health care system that covers both its citizens and expatriates in the country. The Ministry of Health, under the leadership of Al-Rabeeah, is a major player entrusted with the provision of preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care for the Kingdom’s population. It provides primary health care services through a network of more than 2,000 primary health care centers in the Kingdom.