Against a backdrop of solid economic growth that Saudi Arabia is witnessing despite some inflationary pressures, the demand for improved health care services increases. Latest available data showed that the Kingdom's expenditure on drugs reached SR4.8 billion, one of the highest in the Middle East. The Kingdom's explosive growth is mainly driven by rise in population, health care modernization and changes to the health insurance scheme with an emphasis on private provision. And due to the steady increase in demand for quality health services in the Kingdom and across the GCC, experts are predicting an unprecedented increase in the sales of laboratory and diagnostic equipment in the region, with the Saudi market accounting for approximately 65 percent of the total GCC health services market. In the latest sign of new investment in this sector, Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) on Sunday entered into an agreement with Abbott Worldwide, through its approved agent in the Kingdom Medi Serv, for the purchase of laboratory equipment and devices worth more than SR22 million. True to its pioneering stature, the agreement once again makes Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital the first private hospital in the Middle East to install total diagnostics laboratory automation. “The progress in laboratory analysis has increased the market size of medical diagnostic equipment and the market reached SR3.75 billion in 2007 with anticipated growth over the next few years. This improvement has imposed an unprecedented fierce competition in the market,” said Dr. Mazen Soliman Fakeeh, director general of Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. Addressing the media after signing of the purchase agreement with Abbott through its agent Medi Serv, Dr. Mazen said the Automated System Accelerator (APS) uses the latest software which automatically analyzes up to 1,500 samples per hour and ensures more accurate results, hence further enhancing the efficiency of service and ensuring higher quality solutions. The APS, no doubt, guarantees “efficiency, accuracy, timeliness and integration” of the entire process required in providing quality and better health care, he added. “DSFH will be the first private hospital in the Middle East to employ the advanced technology in medical laboratory diagnostics which has multiple services that can be increased as needed to create integrated solutions compatible with the need of present and future laboratories. The APS device is an alternative to manual steps more commonly used in science laboratories in the region,” said Dr. Mazen, who is also a consultant of Medicine and Endocrinology in the Ministry of Health. Asked about the possibility of spearheading the establishment of a medical city (in which all state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipment are in one zone), he humbly said that right now, DSFH is in the process of “horizontal expansion.” He said the hospital is focused more on providing secondary facilities and may open a medical school. Established in 1978, Dr. Soliman Fakeeh is a leading referral hospital, committed to the provision of preventive and therapeutic comprehensive health-care in all medical and surgical specialties. It has been on course toward achieving international standards in-patient care in every specialty and was awarded the Joint Commission International Certificate in 2006 for complying with the international health care quality and safety standards for patient care and organization management. DSFH is also considered to be among the top 10 in the world for in-vitro fertilization, with one of the highest success rates of up to 40 percent, which is an international record, as noted at an international conference in Venezuela in 1992. Abbott enjoys a 30 to 35 percent market share in devices for laboratory diagnostic tests and medical equipment in the Kingdom as well as 80 percent of the blood laboratory market. __
