His Excellency the Saudi Deputy Minister for Planning and Development, Dr. Mohammed bin Hamzah Khushaim, received Her Excellency the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Anna Soubry, and the delegation accompanying her, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom. During the meeting, they discussed means of cooperation reinforcement in the health field.
Present were Dr. Ziad Memish, the Undersecretary of Public Health, Dr. Muhammad Al-Yamani; the Assistant Undersecretary of Planning and Health Economics, Dr. Mohammed Zamakhshari; the Undersecretary of Planning and Training; and Dr. Afaf Al-Shemari, the Director-General of the International Relations.
Shortly after that, the second meeting for the ministerial committee of the Saudi-British cooperation on the health care field was held at the grand meeting auditorium of the Ministry of Health (MOH). Also, it reviewed and discussed cooperation aspects between the two sides on the health field. In the meantime, Dr. Mohammed Al-Yamani, the Undersecretary of Planning and Health Economics chaired the Saudi side of the committee whereas the British side of the committee was chaired by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health.
On the other hand, the communication coordinator and Assistant Undersecretary of Planning and Training, Dr. Mohammed Zamakhshari, stated that the meeting came within the framework of the understanding memo, signed by the Saudi and British minister of health for cooperation between them, upon which two work teams were formed. Also, a lot of visits between experts from both sides were exchanged. He went on to point out that during the meeting points of view were exchanged and feasible cooperation aspects between the two sides on the health fields and health and training human resources development were discussed.
And on an exclusive press release for the Under-secretary for Health of the British Department of Health, Anna Soubry (MP), said that it is a great honor for her to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it is her first visit for her since taking office, and meet the Kingdom's Deputy Minister for Planning and Development, Dr. Mohammed bin Hamzah Khushaim and a number of the MOH senior officials. She also stated that during these meetings, discussions on a number of issues were brought up, which can contribute to carrying out the Kingdom's ambitious health plans; in order to expand its health system and develop it.
Moreover, Anna Soubry expressed her aspirations to conduct a number of new agreements on the feasible cooperation fields between the Kingdom and Britain, of which are developing training for physicians, nurses, and health specialists, providing training opportunities for them, namely on post-graduate studies, and developing work in the health field. She went on pointing out that Britain not only boasts of its health system, but also a number of its institutions in the private sector, active in the field of health services providing and its supportive services, and which the Saudi health sector can benefit from, especially in the private health sector. She also stated that she noticed the Kingdom's interest in providing the primary healthcare services and expanding them in all regions, expressing her desire to draw on Britain's longtime experience in that field. Also, she added that during the meeting the issue of providing these services to the remote regions, an issue facing many countries and not only the Kingdom or Britain, was discussed.
And she made clear that Britain has a long experience on that field and desires to share such experience with the Kingdom. And she further stated that during the meeting, the issue of type B diabetes, increasingly spreading in both Britain and the Kingdom, making it the focal point of both countries and a field for joint work, has been touched upon. And she expressed her great aspirations to see more Saudis joining post-graduate studies on medicine in Britain and obtaining prestigious British qualifications, seeing that realizing that is a great achievement for her country.
She concluded her press release saying that during the meeting, the cooperation between the educational hospitals in both countries was discussed, making clear that there are good relations between these hospitals at the British and Saudi universities. And she looks forward to fostering that more and increasing medicine professor exchange between the two countries.