Ministry of Health Strategy (2019-2023).

This Strategy developed by the Ministry of Health is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at answering a series of challenges facing the healthcare sector in various countries around the world and among them Saudi Arabia, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the high costs of health services resulting from the accelerating development of medical technologies, the prevalence of chronic diseases, the increase of health awareness in the society, in addition to the increased demand for a periodic checkup, risk factors monitoring and early disease detection. The Government in this sector aims to provide integrated and comprehensive health care at the highest international standards.
Among the elements that constitute a risk to human health, the Strategy highlights the environmental degradation that leads to increased incidence of chronic diseases and spending on health services. To this end, the document proposes initiatives and projects related to the protection of the environment, such as the establishment of a research fund for energy and the environment, a desert agriculture center, launching the “Saudi Green Initiative” and the “Green Middle East” initiative, many occupational safety programs. Climate changes affect the health of the surrounding environment, as the frequency of natural disasters is likely to increase, such as droughts, floods, etc., which may directly or indirectly threaten human safety and health. Saudi efforts are directed to contribute to developing national natural reserves from 4% to more than 14% and increasing the vegetation cover area in the Kingdom by 40% to combat desertification, together with increased investments in the production of renewable energy as a commitment to environmental conservation and sustainability. Water pollution and lack of sewage networks are one of the most important reasons for transmitting many diseases and causing deaths, this leads the Kingdom to ensure clean and potable water supplies as well as safely managed sewage networks with percentages approaching 100%. Finally, waste disposal is considered one of the most important environmental issues, as failure to safely dispose of it leads to a deterioration in the quality of life due to the spread of rodents and mosquitoes, causing epidemics and diseases. For this reason, the Kingdom developed environmentally sound systems for waste collection.