ministry of health (saudi arabia) ministry of health (saudi arabia) the ministry of health (arabic: وزارة الصحة), commonly abbreviated to moh, is the ministry overseeing the health care and health policy of saudi arabia. the ministry is tasked with formulating strategies to ensure public health in the country, while also managing crucial health infrastructure. ministry of healthkingdom of saudi arabiaوزارة الصحةofficial logo of the saudi ministry of healthagency overviewformed1950 (1950)jurisdictiongovernment of saudi arabiaheadquartersriyadhagency executivefahad al-jalajel, (minister of health)websiteofficial english website the ministry's origins can be traced to 1925, when a number of regional health departments were established, with the first in mecca, saudi arabia. as the country grew economically during the 1940s, the saudi government created the first national ministry of health in the country, appointing abdullah bin faisal al saud as the kingdom's first minister of health. during the next couple of decades, the ministry oversaw the development and construction of numerous hospitals and regional clinics. as the kingdom of saudi arabia economy grew in the 1970s and 1980s, so did its healthcare requirements. during this period the moh oversaw the construction of hospitals in major cities and other health centers in areas with smaller populations. eng. fahad al-jalajel is the current minister of health, who was appointed as the minister of health after tawfig al-rabiah was relieved from this position in october 2021 and appointed minister of hajj and umrah. history foundation of ministry (1925-1960) in 1925, saudi arabia's first public health department was established in mecca. the department was founded with the aim to increase the quality and access to healthcare in the country. in the first few decades of its existence, the ministry focused on the development of hospitals and other healthcare infrastructure in saudi arabia. additional regulation was also added with healthcare centers enforcing regulations to provide necessary standards for practicing medicine and pharmacology. a public health council was also established to address the growing need for healthcare services, and it was the highest-level supervisory board, overseeing all aspects of the country's healthcare services. the various healthcare institutions were merged to become a ministerial body in 1950. abdullah bin faisal al saud was the first health minister and served in the position for three years with his main role to set up the newly formed ministry. he served in the position for three years. he was replaced by rashad pharaon who was the personal doctor of king abdulaziz, and he served in the post between 1954 and 1960. growing healthcare importance (1960s-1990s) following world war ii, saudi arabia's oil production increased dramatically and many remote areas began to see an influx of workers to work in the oil industry. this meant that developing regions in the kingdom required more healthcare infrastructure, which was subsequently provided. the initial management of this expansion in the early 1960s fell under the responsibility of hassan bin yousef nassief and hamid bin mohammad al harsani, the third and fourth ministers of health. they each served a year in the position, from 1960 to 1962. later in the 1960s, the growth turned the country into a regional and global power. following a number of conflicts in the 1960s and 1970s, saudi arabia's importance in the region grew. this continued rise in wealth meant that huge investments were made by the country's leaders, in order to improve the standard of living across the country. health in the rural areas of the country became more accessible during this period, as communities that were once considered rural, were more integrated into society with the expansion of oil fields. this expansion required health facilities, which saw the first major rural expansion of medical care in the country's history. this was overseen by dr. yousef bin yaqoub al hairi and shaikh hassan bin abdullah aal alshaikh, both of whom served as ministers of health in the mid to late 1960s. cities such as riyadh and jeddah saw their healthcare infrastructure grow substantially. the expansion of the city infrastructure was essential, with urbanization increasing in the country, with large corporations also moving their offices to the country with the growing economy. this early development was overseen by dr. jamil bin ibrahim al hujailan and dr. abdulaziz bin abdullah al khuwaiter, who served as ministers in the early 1970s. the economic expansion did not only lead to the development of hospitals for citizens but also care for the kingdom's military. in the 1970s saw the construction of riyadh military hospital and many other major infrastructure projects that led to more accessible healthcare. a number of years later saw the creation of king khalid university hospital was also completed. dr. hussain bin abdulrazzaq al jazairy played a major role in the kingdom's improved hospitals during his eight-year tenure between 1975 and 1983. recent history (1990s-present) towards the end of the 1990s, dr. faisal bin abdulaziz al hujailan finished serving as minister of health after twelve years. he to this day is still the longest-serving minister of health in saudi arabia's history. al hujailan's role as health minister was complex and varied. the health of the military and the people during this period was hugely important, due to the conflict surrounding iraq's invasion of kuwait and the surrounding conflicts, including the battle of khafji. a large coalition army was formed by the united nations and many were based in the kingdom during the gulf war and tensions in the 1990s. al hujailan and the ministers who followed him had to not only care for the health of its people but also ground troops and wounded soldiers. in the early 21st century, two ministers played a major part in the development of new high-tech hospitals and infrastructure in many of the cities in the kingdom. of them, hamad bin abdullah al manie served between 2003 and 2009, with abdullah bin abdulaziz al rabiah serving for five years until 2014. following al rabiah's departure, a number of well-known public officials served as ministers of health between 2014 and 2016. in total, five ministers were appointed during this period, including adel fakeih, dr. mohammed al-hayaza and khalid al falih. a new minister of health was announced in early 2016 as dr. tawfig al rabiah. the kingdom has attempted to link lifestyle with health through a number of initiatives. this focused on attempting to solve the country's obesity issues. taxes on unhealthy food products were introduced, as well as nutritional labeling. as part of the focus on tackling obesity, the health minister announced that the kingdom would allow women to use women-only gyms. local media had reported that women in the kingdom often struggled to exercise enough during a typical day, which was leading to health issues in some women. until 2018, healthcare in schools fell under the stewardship of the ministry of education. it was proposed by the ministry of health that this should change and should be managed by the ministry of health. in 2018, the responsibility was officially transferred between the two ministries. additionally, periodic health checks were introduced for saudi pupils at specific grade intervals. in april 2018, the world health organization presented alrabiah with certifications for two new health cities in the country. the cities were diriyah and jalajil. awards were also later given for the cities of unayzah and riyadh al khabra. in february 2022, the director-general of the world health organization (who) congratulated saudi arabia in eliminating trachoma, a disease of the eye caused by infection with the bacterium chlamydia trachomatis. on february 27, 2022, the ministry of health launched the first virtual hospital in the kingdom. services & strategies national insurance agency under the leadership of tawfig alrabiah, it was announced that the kingdom would be creating a national health insurance agency, which would be managed by the ministry of health. it was announced that implementation would begin in 2018 and would be regulated centrally, but medical services would be independently provided. the move meant that saudi arabia was one of the first countries in the middle east to offer health insurance to its people. pilgrimage health saudi arabia identified in the past decade that health concerns with pilgrims could cause severe problems to the country's infrastructure during the pilgrimage season. international health regulations were applied to pilgrims, in line with the world health organization following the discovery, which would give better medical protection to more than two million people annually. this protection is provided by 25 hospitals, 155 health centers and a workforce of 30,000 medical professionals in the country. as part of the same strategy, a new contingency and emergency planning were introduced by the minister, with the creation of the saudi disaster medical assistance team (s-dmat). the newly formed relief team would be used during pilgrimage season, but could also be deployed to neighboring countries in times of crisis. apps one major new service was the creation of ehealth analytics, abbreviated to seha. the platform allows saudi citizens to connect with a physician via the internet and remotely. the app 'med consult' was launched in collaboration with king salman center for relief and humanitarian aid (ksrelief) and the support of the world health organization. this app enables visual communication to provide medical consultations among health practitioners in low to middle-income countries (lmic) with consultants all over the world. artificial intelligence since the mid-2010s, the ministry has had an increased focus on artificial intelligence. as a medium to long-term aim, trails and developments demonstrated how saudi arabia could become a pioneering country in medical ai. with partnerships with the likes of siemens and babylon health, it is believed that ai operations and other advanced forms of ai could be tested in the country within the next decade. saudi center for disease prevention and control in recent years, saudi arabia has created and developed the saudi center for disease prevention and control (weqaya), often abbreviated to cdc. the announcement of a newly formed cdc came in 2013, which became the first centralized facility of its kind in the kingdom. the main goals of the facility were to research and treat various health issues across the country, while also conducting experiments. it was believed at the time of its creation, the cdc would dramatically boost the country's health sector. a new commission was formed in 2016 to aid the treatment of hepatitis c in the country. the aims of the commission are to eradicate the disease from the domestic population in the kingdom. this also coincided with the creation of a new saudi-made medicine that would be used to treat the virus. wider initiatives on the treatment of disease were also implemented, with flu vaccinations becoming a focus. between 2016 and 2018, vaccinations in the country quadrupled. the vaccinations were made possible with the launch of rural medical care in the country. mobile primary care became a new initiative under the minister's guidance, which meant rural citizens in the kingdom could access health-related services more easily. the care industry in saudi arabia recognized that more people required home visits as part of a wider initiative to help the elderly and those less mobile. the minister increased the number of services that could be implemented during home visits. it was estimated that 250,000 home visits were conducted by the end of 2018. tobacco clinics as part of a move toward healthier citizens of the kingdom, the minister announced that there would be an expansion in the number of clinics to treat tobacco addiction. in order to reduce the number of people taking up smoking, the kingdom also created a number of initiatives to take a stricter view on smoking as a whole. this included a tax increase on the sale of cigarettes. the university of massachusetts also became involved in the initiatives, signing a partnership with the kingdom to assist in the research of the treatment of tobacco addiction. in order to reduce the number of people taking up smoking, the kingdom created a number of initiatives to take a stricter view on smoking, which saw a 97% increase in anti-smoking clinics from 254 to 504 clinics, in addition to 100 mobile units for universities and education directorates. meanwhile, focusing on community consciousness, the moh achieved a 336% increase in the proportion of breast cancer screenings and screened 61,000, while 3.75 million people were given