Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah signed 26 contracts on Sunday to the value of SR3.68 billion for medicines and supply services for its various health departments which included SR3.5 billion for the supply of vaccines.

Speaking to the press following the signing ceremony at his office, the minister said that these contracts are in line with the progressive mission of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman to offer the best health services to the nation.

“We are keen on improving our health services according to the national integrated, comprehensive healthcare project chalked out by the ministry,” the minister said, adding that in addition to the supply of vaccines, the ministry has signed contracts for the supply of industrial gas and catering of prepared meals to the hospital patients.

Meanwhile Mohammed Hamzah Al-Khosheim, deputy minister of health for planning and development said on Sunday that the bed capacity in hospitals in the Kingdom has reached world standards with 3.4 beds for every 1,000 patients. He said the ministry has completed 45 hospitals during the last two years and it would also build another 140 hospitals in the coming five years.

He pointed out that the number of beds in 1430 has increased from 32,222 beds in 224 hospitals to 38,970. He said that the ministry expects remarkable facilities and services offered to the people with 73,678 beds both in the private and public sectors during the next five years.

The infant mortality in the Kingdom has been reduced from 22 infants per 1,000 in 2006 to eight babies in 2013 and the mortality rate among children under five from 27 per 1,000 to nine per thousand last year. The mortality rate of newborns has gone down from 12 per 1,000 live births in 2006 to five per 1,000 in 2013.