PHSSR Saudi Arabia 2025

Finally, the government established in 2022 the Health Holding Company (HHC) to manage and develop the healthcare sector by improving e fficiency, quality and accessibility. It operates under the umbrella of the MoH and plays a signi ficant role in Saudi Vision 2030 . Its key functions and responsibilities include: •Managing public hospitals and healthcare facilities , ensuring that they operate e fficiently and provide high-quality care to patients; •Investing in healthcare infrastructure , such as new hospitals, clinics and specialised healthcare centres; •Attracting private investment , both locally and internationally, through PPPs, joint ventures and other collaborative models; •Enhancing the quality and scope of healthcare service s by adopting the latest medical technologies, best practices and innovative solutions; •Developing human resources through training and development of the healthcare workforce to meet the growing demand for quality healthcare services. •Coordinating with other healthcare entities , such as the Saudi Patient Safety Centre (SPSC) and the Saudi Health Council (SHC), to ensure a uni fied approach to improving the healthcare system. It is too early to evaluate the outcomes of the HHC; its integration in the Saudi healthcare system should be revisited and evaluated in the next few years. 2.2 Financing for health system resilience During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government implemented several mechanisms to rapidly dispense additional funding, with a focus on ensuring su fficient funds were available to public health agencies. It responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by seeking to urgently treat the infected population and prevent the further spread of infection. This demanded additional healthcare expenditure. To achieve this, the Covid-19 Health Endowment Fund was established to support the healthcare sector in its response to the pandemic and to ensure that su fficient funds were available to public health agencies. The MoH increased its budget allocation for the 2022/23 fiscal year, with a particular focus on Covid-19 response efforts, while the government established a Covid-19 Command and Control Centre, to coordinate the national response to the pandemic and ensure that public health agencies had the necessary resources to carry out their work. The government’s expenditure decisions during the pandemic enhanced the resilience of the health system. In addition to increasing health service funding, user fees were temporarily decreased to ensure access to services. At the same time, the transfer of funding from essential services to support the crisis response was kept to a minimum, with funds transferred only where they were most needed. Free treatment was provided to everyone in the country, irrespective of their residency status (including tourists and undocumented migrants) and quarantine expenses were funded for all. The pandemic resulted in a 9% increase in health expenditure, resulting in lower allocation of funding to other public services. The government took steps to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, by providing financial support to businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic, including wage subsidies and grants. The Saudi Arabian government also took a proactive role in financially supporting other countries to combat the pandemic. Two agreements were signed between the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) and the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The first allocated vaccines equally among twenty-two countries and the second allocated USD $965,000 to support Gavi’s efforts to combat the pandemic (Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, website). The pandemic led to increased demand for healthcare services, while at the same time disrupting supply chains and increasing costs for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies. To address these challenges, the government allocated signi ficant additional resources to 38 Sustainability and Resilience in the Saudi Arabian Health System The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience