Minister of Health Announces Launch of Medical Consultation for Visual Communication

In his speech at the opening of the Fourth Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety in Jeddah

The Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq Bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, announced today the launch of the implementation of medical consultations for video communication at the opening of the 4th World Ministerial Conference on patient safety, which is being held today in Jeddah.

Al-Rabiah conveyed to the participants the greetings of the guard of the two holy mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, during which he said: "I am pleased to welcome you on my behalf and on behalf of the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia: The fourth global patient safety under the title "Supporting Patient Safety in the Middle and Least Developed Countries", which the Kingdom is honored and proud to welcome, hopes to take a leap forward in promoting the concept of patient safety and its importance at the regional and international levels.

"The Kingdom has made great strides in improving health care and patient safety because of its great importance in the health care system and as a key component of the national health transformation agenda. We seek to maintain success and develop it to achieve the goals of the vision Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

We are honored to host this important Ministerial Summit, which we hope will provide an additional foundation for efforts to promote patient safety at the international level, particularly at the mid-level level. . And the least developed countries. Workshops will be held to discuss the most important topics related to patient safety, such as health coverage, workforce, digital health and scientific research. Policies will also be highlighted, as well as empowerment and patient safety.

The Minister of Health announced that, given the interest of the Kingdom and its global role in promoting patient safety, Med Consult has launched, in collaboration with the King Salman Center for Relief and Disease. Humanitarian action and the World Health Organization, one of the outcomes of this important conference, among health practitioners from least developed countries with consultants from around the world, this will help strengthen security patients, reduce misdiagnosis, increase efficiency, and share the experiences of health practitioners around the world.

"The Jeddah Patient Safety Declaration will be launched at the end of the summit to complement efforts to promote patient safety globally and to be a practical tool for improving the safety of patients." of health, "said Al Rabiah.

He mentioned the presence at the summit of Jeremy Hunt, former British Foreign Minister and Minister of Health, one of the founders of the ministerial summits on patient safety, which strongly urged the WHO to adopt the resolution on World Patient Safety Day.

Hunt, in his speech, reviewed the most important issues related to patient safety in his country's health sector, which he immediately observed when he was Minister of Health in Britain, and cited several humanitarian stories of patients who had lived or had lived through bitter experiences of medical errors. And how far his ministry will benefit from these experiences in the future.

He explained that health practitioners are more willing to avoid medical mistakes and support patient safety in Britain and the European continent, stressing that achieving goals in the field of safety of patients will not be possible only with the participation of the community, especially the owners of the experiences that have experienced these mistakes.

He called on everyone to emphasize the humanitarian aspect, neglected by some in many medical mistakes.

The British Minister praised the role played by Saudi Arabia in organizing the Fourth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety, which is considered an extraordinary summit in terms of the number of participants at ministerial level, who reached 49 countries, in addition to the participation of 25 ministers of health, as well as a number of participants and speakers at the summit. And thanked the guardian of the two holy mosques for sponsoring this summit.

Hunt thanked Al Rabiah for Saudi Arabia's support to the World Health Organization (WHO) in achieving patient safety goals, thus praising the excellent cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Human Rights. Saudi Arabia and his country in this area.

Dr. Abdul-Ella Al-Husawi, Director General of the Saudi Patient Peace Center and Chair of the Summit Organizing Committee, said: "The focus has been on patient safety in the last 20 years in developed countries, while efforts in the middle and least developed countries are weak, During this summit, the focus will be on supporting patient safety efforts in these countries, the Kingdom having helped many of these countries to participate in this summit.

He stressed the need to take advantage of other sectors, for example: the aviation sector, nuclear, gas and oil, and how the safety ratio for 50 years is completely different from that. that it is currently, and how it has improved and qualitatively changed.

"We look forward to working with experts and stakeholders to propose a number of optimal solutions that strengthen patient safety and reduce errors in healthcare.

He highlighted the Kingdom's considerable efforts to ensure patient safety through the Saudi Patient Safety Center, the only center of its kind in the region.

"Saudi Arabia's organization of the Fourth Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety is proof that the Kingdom has a leading role to play in bringing the summit of the region under the patronage of the guardian of the two. This is a greater proof of the important support of the parent responsible for patient safety, not only at the local, patient safety abroad in the region and at the international level.

"In the near future, the Kingdom will also be associated with positive efforts for global patient safety, and next year we will present the Patient Safety Program at the G20, which will also support the safety of patients. patients on an international scale.

The conference was organized into eight workshops on how to leverage other health sectors, in addition to patient and societal empowerment, infection-related harm in health facilities, and the role of in the promotion of patient safety and digital research.

The summit should be held the next day and make a number of recommendations to ministers of health attending the summit for the preparation of the Jeddah Declaration.