May 16, 2011

Saudi Arabia Needs 40,000 More Hospital Beds

More than $18bn has been allotted to Saudi Arabian healthcare construction over the next five years to cope with rising demand. The commitment includes the construction and equipping of primary healthcare centres, the building of 120 new hospitals and the upgrade of four existing hospit

By cms admin

More than $18bn has been allotted to Saudi Arabian healthcare construction over the next five years to cope with rising demand.

The commitment includes the construction and equipping of primary healthcare centres, the building of 120 new hospitals and the upgrade of four existing hospitals.

The initiative include participants such as Senior representatives from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health, King Saud University, King Abdullah Institute for Research and Consulting Studies and International Hospitals Construction.

The country will likely need more than 41,000 new hospital beds in light of its growing population and increasing life expectancy.

Nour Soliman, Saudi Construction Summit director at IQPC, said that Saudi Arabia will face a sharp increase in healthcare demand over the next decade and beyond.

“Various factors such as high birth rates, increasing rates of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other obesity-related illnesses, will add pressure on healthcare services,” Arabianbusiness.com quotes Soliman as saying.