Health Sector Transformation Program

The Health Sector Transformation Program is one of the programs for achieving Saudi Vision 2030. It is concerned with public health in all its components and works to facilitate access to health services and raise their quality by developing and improving hospitals, primary healthcare centres and emergency services, and strengthening digital health transformation, with a focus on prevention before treatment.[1]

The program forms part of the system of national programs emerging from Saudi Vision 2030, alongside major programs including the National Transformation Program, the Quality of Life Program and the Human Capability Development Program.[1]

The program rests on four strategic objectives: facilitating access to healthcare services, improving the quality and efficiency of health services, strengthening prevention against health risks, and enhancing traffic safety.[1]

The program's initiatives proceed from developing hospitals, primary healthcare centres and emergency services, strengthening digital health transformation, and encouraging prevention before treatment.[1]

The program committee is chaired by His Excellency Mr. Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel, Minister of Health and member of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, within the national governance of the programs for achieving Saudi Vision 2030.[1]

Among the program's targets are raising the beneficiary satisfaction rate with the experience of health services during hospitalisation in hospitals to more than 85.76%, and rolling out the unified digital medical record to cover 100% of the population.[1]

The program aims to bring the average number of deaths from road accidents to 5 deaths per 100,000 people within the objective of enhancing traffic safety.[1] The proportion of population clusters, including peripheral ones, covered by health services across the Kingdom reached 88% in 2023.[1]

The Seha Virtual Hospital was launched in 2022; it is the largest of its kind in the world, links more than 150 hospitals, and provides more than 30 specialised health services across the Kingdom.[1] The Seha Virtual Hospital and the Innovation Enablement Centre are among the most prominent achievements of health transformation in the Kingdom, providing precise specialised services remotely inside the Kingdom and beyond, and the hospital obtained a Guinness World Records certificate as the largest virtual hospital in the world, and the Canadian medical accreditation (Diamond category) as the first virtual hospital to receive this accreditation.[2]

In digital services, the number of beneficiaries of the "Sehaty" app exceeded 31 million beneficiaries, and the services of the Seha Virtual Hospital reached more than 365,000 beneficiaries through 241 health facilities.[3]

20 health clusters were launched across the Kingdom, and each cluster represents an integrated network of healthcare providers that includes primary healthcare centres, general and specialised hospitals, and medical cities.[5]

The health services network expanded with these clusters, as the coverage rate of basic healthcare services reached 97.5% of population clusters.[3]

Average life expectancy in the Kingdom rose to 79.7 years, approaching the Saudi Vision 2030 target of 80 years, reflecting improved public health indicators and the integration of national efforts in prevention and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.[3]

16 healthy cities in the Kingdom received accreditation from the World Health Organization after meeting 80 international standards, and the Kingdom leads the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa region with them, in line with the targets of the Quality of Life Program and the Health Sector Transformation Program.[4]

In the framework of strengthening readiness, the health regions achieved the 2030 target early with a readiness rate of 92% to confront health risks, and the integrated efforts between government entities contributed to reducing deaths resulting from traffic accidents by about 60% since the launch of the Vision.[3]

The health transformation and its initiatives played a pivotal role in mitigating the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic crisis and overcoming its challenges, so that the Kingdom became a successful global model in this field.[1]

This path reflects the readiness and response achieved by the national health system within the comprehensive transformation of the health sector emerging from Saudi Vision 2030.[1]

Q: What is the Health Sector Transformation Program? A: It is one of the programs for achieving Saudi Vision 2030; it is concerned with public health in all its components and works to facilitate access to health services and raise their quality, with a focus on prevention before treatment.[1]

Q: What are the strategic objectives of the program? A: Facilitating access to healthcare services, improving the quality and efficiency of health services, strengthening prevention against health risks, and enhancing traffic safety.[1]

Q: Who chairs the program committee? A: His Excellency Mr. Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel, Minister of Health and member of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs.[1]

Q: What are the digital health transformation targets in the program? A: Rolling out the unified digital medical record to cover 100% of the population, and exceeding 31 million beneficiaries of the "Sehaty" app.[1][3]

Q: What is the average life expectancy in the Kingdom? A: 79.7 years, approaching the Saudi Vision 2030 target of 80 years.[3]