“The leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ensured the availability of access to health care facilities to every citizen,” said Brad T. Sauer, the 3M Health Care executive vice president who was in the Kingdom last week to meet with Saudi partners and other key stakeholders.

“Kingdom has become the largest health care market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and has the region's most technologically-advanced infrastructure,” he said.

For this reason, he said, 3M is in a good position to contribute to the Kingdom's efforts in providing comprehensive health care with the use of state-of-the-art technology.

“3M Health Care was the first to introduce a stethoscope that enables a doctor or a nurse halfway across the globe to listen to the heartbeat of a patient in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. Our Littmann stethoscope is definitely a breakthrough in auscultation,” said Sauer, who was visiting the Kingdom for the first time.

He said through Littmann, doctors or nurses in the United States could discuss a diagnosis. So far 3M Health Care is the industry leader in the field of auscultation, he added.

Sauer said his company could play a vital role in the Kingdom's health care delivery. “While the Ministry of Health (MOH) continues to be the main financier in the delivery of health care, public funds alone will be insufficient to meet the increasing health care needs of the Kingdom's increasing population,” Sauer said.

He noted local health care was segmented structurally and provided for by the MOH, adding that by 2009, there were 408 operating hospitals and 2,037 primary health care centers (PHC).

According to recent statistics from the MOH, there were 131 million outpatient visits and 3 million inpatient admissions in 2009.

Sauer noted that several initiatives had been undertaken to encourage private sector participation.

“Opportunities for the private sector lie in the three tiers of medical care: primary, secondary and tertiary. However, with government efforts divided between providing health care services for all three tiers, greater revenue drivers for the private sector will still be in secondary and tertiary care,” he said.