WHO chief thanks Saudi Arabia for leading role in health care

Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of World Health Organization (WHO), has expressed his thanks and appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s leading role in health care services.

He extended his thanks to Dr. Tawfig Alrabiah, the Minister of health, for the Kingdom’s hosting of the fourth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety 2019, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The WHO chief said during the Summit which focused on low- and middle-income countries, that Saudi Arabia exerted tremendous efforts for the care and safety of patients. The Kingdom had established the Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC) in this regard, in addition to adopting WHO’s program to incorporate patient safety in education.

In May, WHO member states will discuss at the annual meeting in Geneva, the idea of adopting 17th of December each year as World Patient Safety Day, noting that about 2.6 million patients die every year – with two-third of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. These cases could be averted if healthcare practices were observed, he added.