Saudi Increases Healthcare Budget by 8 percent

2014 Annual Budget allocates SAR 108 billion for development of health & social services

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently announced the annual budget for 2014, allocating SAR 108 billion for expansion of health and social services which amounts to 8 per cent increase in comparison to 2013. The announcement is set to improve the healthcare and social services sectors through the introduction of new medical facilities and upgrades to existing ones. The Saudi healthcare market has undergone major development during the last few years supported by various factors, including an overall increase in healthcare spending by government, growing penetration of health insurance providers, increase in per capita income, and huge investment in both human resource and medical infrastructure.

The increasing governmental support for the local healthcare industry will give an opportunity to the country’s leading healthcare solution providers to introduce their innovative solutions and services in the kingdom. Building on the vast market prospects, CompuGroup Medical (CGM), a leading IT healthcare solutions provider in the Middle East and Turkey, is keen to contribute towards the development of the sector by offering its industry-leading products such as the CORTTEX Integrated Hospital Information Management System Environment, the CGM CNG clinical Information Systems, and the iOS-based Mobile Applications.

Thomas Reitmayr, Vice President – Business Development, CompuGroup Medical Central and East Europe, said, “The recent announcement of the Saudi 2014 annual budget for the healthcare sector strongly highlights effective measure on the part of the government for expansion of the healthcare sector. It mentioned the construction of 34 new hospitals and health centres in addition to continuing work on five medical cities and 132 hospitals across the kingdom. The actual figures of the government’s spending translate into huge market prospects and growth potential for the latest medical devices and equipments along with superior healthcare solutions.”