PHSSR Saudi Arabia 2025

21 Sustainability and Resilience in the Saudi Arabian Health System The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience The seven domains covered in this report are: Governance : the wide range of steering and rule-making related functions carried out by governments and decision makers as they seek to achieve national health policy objectives Financing : how health systems generate, pool and allocate financial resources and pay for health services Workforce : how health systems plan for, train, recruit, reward, and deploy their workforce, and shape the conditions in which health professionals work Medicines and technology : how health systems make use of medicines and (information) technologies in the delivery of health services Service delivery : how health services are organised and delivered, including ambulatory and hospital care, and public health Population health : how health systems address the social determinants of health and meet the needs and demand of the population Environmental sustainability : how health systems prevent and minimize their carbon footprint and the impacts of pollution on the population’s health Each domain was analysed by a principal expert, using the most up-to-date data available in the public domain and from selected government sources, in combination with sources from the available literature, and input from cross-sectoral expert panels. Drafts of each of the seven domains were circulated among key national policy makers to solicit feedback and consensus during focus group-style workshops. The analysis of each domain includes recommendations for sustainability and resilience that are in line with the ambitions of Saudi Arabia’s plan for the transformation of its health system. It should be noted that these recommendations can only be considered provisional, due to the dynamic evolution of the health sector, and the need to consult on proposals more widely. Furthermore, the report includes two case studies. The first provides an overview of the award- winning Tawakkalna app , an invaluable asset in protecting population health during the Covid-19 pandemic. The second details Saudi Arabia’s experience in upholding population health during the mass gatherings of Hajj and Umrah in the context of the pandemic.