PHSSR Saudi Arabia 2025

28 Sustainability and Resilience in the Saudi Arabian Health System The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience implemented an early warning system for the rapid detection of and response to health threats, utilising syndromic surveillance and event-based surveillance data at the national level. The system generated automated alarms for public health events and facilitated the monitoring of health events, thereby improving situational awareness and timeliness of response. Ultimately, these data drove policy. The system proved helpful in enhancing Covid-19 case detection, monitoring the geographical spread of the virus and assessing the effectiveness of control measures. Researchers also employed epidemiological models, including the susceptible-infectious-recovered (SIR) model, Table 4: Challenges and solutions during the Covid-19 pandemic Challenges Samples of implemented solutions Infrastructure and logistical support•Health and care facilities continued to operate at full capacity during the pandemic. •The capabilities and expertise of the private sector contributed to increasing absorptive capacity and infrastructure while meeting growing health service demand. •Integrated mechanisms were implemented to track and monitor the provision of medical supplies and strategic stocks. Data and technology•All governmental sectors accelerated the preparation and activation of the uni fied health file (digital health platform, which provides updated data of patients, showing history and type of disease and medicines dispensed, medical insurance, laboratory testing results, vaccinations, and referrals) and its integration with the Absher system (a smartphone application and web portal that allows citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia to use a variety of government services). This expedited the implementation of virtual care and telemedicine services in all health sectors. •Community interaction apps such as Tawakkalna mobile application (see case study) were introduced by SDAIA to report Covid-19 cases and conduct follow up. •A uni fied national data source was established to report the status of publicly available cases. Health and prevention•The implementation of public health policies was monitored in densely populated areas with increased health risks and the application of the modern health and care model was accelerated at the national level. •Local strategic stockpiles of medicines, supplies and medical devices were increased, as was support for these. •Volunteer programmes were activated at the national level. Research and development•A strategy for research, development and innovation was developed and prepared in relevant fields to combat the pandemic. •A National Committee for Covid-19 Research was established. •Covid-19 research priorities were established and published. •A national registry platform to record Covid-19 was launched to produce accurate Covid-19 statistics and to facilitate research. The individual and society axis•The quality of awareness information materials was improved to inform the population about healthy behaviour and the importance of periodic check-ups. •Communication channels were diversi fied to reach the largest number of bene ficiaries from different nationalities and to ensure the uni fication of awareness content and its production in multiple languages. •An of ficial representative was selected to act as of ficial speaker to meet the challenge of the spread of misinformation.