RIYADH, 15 September 2005 — An international conference on health economics and endowments ended here yesterday with a call for a national plan to bridge the gap in the supply-demand situation in the Kingdom’s health care services.
The three-day symposium, the first dealing with this problem in the Middle East, was inaugurated by Deputy Governor of Riyadh Prince Sattam on Monday. Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manea outlined his vision of a “Health Care Endowment Fund” at the conference’s penultimate session.
The concluding session, chaired by Dr. Hamad Al-Omar, the conference’s co-chairman, urged the Ministry of Health to gear up its programs in cooperation with the private sector to meet the needs of the population. The session strongly recommended that health professionals should be trained in health economics to maximize their utilization the country’s health care resources. The participants also stressed the need to set up a fund sponsored by the private sector to improve the social and health services in the Kingdom.
Inaugurating the seminar, Prince Sattam said the meeting was being held at the right time when the Kingdom is poised for entry to the World Trade Organization and is framing new policies to make medical insurance mandatory for Saudis and expatriates. He pointed out that this was an ideal forum for participants to find ways and means to cut down the government’s heavy health care expenditure through private sector participation.
The event was sponsored by King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in cooperation with the World Health Organization, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Health. A total of 33 papers were presented at the seminar and 15 international speakers participated.
“Economics is one of the primary factors that affect global development and the health care industry is not immune. Health care spending is reaching an all-time high and in the United States, it has reached 15 percent of the gross domestic product,” said Dr. Qasim Al-Qasabi, chief executive officer of the KFSH.
Dr. Fahad Al-Orifi, consultant at KFSH and the conference chairman, said the international gathering examined the challenges confronting the health services in the region from an economic perspective.
The ever growing demand on health care services, the highly qualified medical personnel and sophisticated medical equipment were considerable costs and had to be looked at from the perspective of economic viability.
The conference explored new avenues to decrease the financial burden on governments through cooperation of all sectors involved in medical and business fields. It also called on non-governmental organizations and private sector establishments to invest in health care.
Al-Orifi said the impact of globalization on environment and its influence on the quality of human life generally affect the health care system. “Responding to these changes is the challenge facing us.”
He added that the demand and cost of providing health care services have increased in direct proportion to each other. “Reducing the cost and responding to the demand have become the greatest economic challenge this industry has faced up till now,” Al-Orifi said.
Dr. Hossein Salehi from the WHO pointed out that good health is a highly desirable state that people are willing and are paying for. “But there is growing evidence that health is also a form of capital — human capital. As such, the general economic theory of production, capital and investment applies to health,” he said.
Spending on health, Salehi said, must be viewed as investing in health and spending on health projects should not be considered as spending in welfare programs but as investment projects.
