PHSSR Saudi Arabia 2025

29 Sustainability and Resilience in the Saudi Arabian Health System The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience to predict the spread of Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia and to provide valuable information for policy- makers. Almost all healthcare institutions implemented internal surveillance systems and acted upon them. Table 4 (continued): Challenges and solutions during the Covid-19 pandemic Governance and regulations axis•The Covid-19 Command and Control Centre was created to mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic and to drive the major policies. •Unified mandates, protocols, pathways and clinical practice guidelines were implemented during the pandemic to limit the spread of the virus. •All infected individuals, including undocumented immigrants, received free care and were treated with dignity during the pandemic. This was facilitated by the government’s substantial investment to mitigate the potential short and long-term negative consequences of limited healthcare coverage during the pandemic. Table 5: Pillars of climate and disaster resilience in the Saudi Arabian health system Pillar Saudi Response Foundations •During the pandemic, the Saudi health system successfully handled daily demand and provided appropriate treatment capacity, fair access to health services and maintained effective supply chains. •Digital information was utilised to assess demand for health services and foresee dif ficulties. Individual healthcare facilities•During the pandemic, most sectors of the health service were equipped with suf ficient tools, resources, quali fied and trained staff and operating protocols. •This facilitated careful planning, keeping track of essential stocks and improving standards of patient care during surges or emergencies. Healthcare systems •During the pandemic, most sectors of the health service created strategies to boost surge capacity, including service delivery models and backup plans to ensure vital supply chains remained open. •Telemedicine provided health services to remote locations and data-driven approaches were used to detect surges in the virus. Integrated emergency response•The combined efforts of national disaster management systems, the military, civil protection agencies and the general public helped to maintain an adequate emergency response. •High-level inter-agency communication channels were established to build ef ficient early warning strategies. Lifeline infrastructure for resilient healthcare services•During the pandemic, modern technology and enhanced cybersecurity were used to maximise health facilities and maintain systems. Source: Rentschler R at al., 2021.