The Ministry of Health (MoH) has embarked on a unique project aimed at issuing electronic licenses to health facilities, staff physicians and technical personnel. The project would be launched on a pilot basis initially to ensure that it is free of technical errors.

Disclosing this, MoH Undersecretary for Medical Private Sector Affairs Ali Al-Zawawi said implementation of the project may be difficult in some areas where Internet facility is not available, but this will be taken care of subsequently by authorities involved in the project.

The ministry has also launched a campaign aimed at correcting irregularities in private health facilities. The campaign successfully tracked down more than 160 health facilities, pharmacies, optical shops and medical centers all over the Kingdom for committing violations. Some of them have been closed while others have been fined, local media said.

“The ministry has intensified control over private health facilities in several parts of the Kingdom and has tracked down various irregularities following a surge in complaints from many citizens that health services were poor in some facilities,” a local daily quoted a source as saying.

The source said most facilities that have been closed are medical complexes, especially in Riyadh, followed by clinics and medical centers.

Some 150 health workers were reportedly working without licenses in health facilities in different regions, it said.

Tareq Banjir, manager of Medical License Department in Jeddah, said inspection campaigns were being carried out on all private health facilities in Jeddah, with several special teams comprising doctors and technicians participating in it. The teams carried out surprise inspection visits to health facilities, shops selling spectacles and medical centers, he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah will head the Saudi delegation to the 4th session of Health Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Indonesian capital Jakarta between Oct. 22 and Oct. 24, ministry sources said.

Ziad Mimsh, undersecretary for public health, will accompany the minister, they added.

The important health session, which is also known as the Islamic Conference of Health Ministers (ICHM), it meets every two years to discuss priority health issues of Muslim communities and review different aspects of health status in OIC member countries, including health developments and situations, concerns, requirements and priorities.