Ali Mohsen Alshehri and Mohamed Osman Elamin
Abstract
Healthcare serves as a fundamental service in any nation, making it a crucial focus for the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The establishment of a national policy that targets environmental health issues plays a significant role in safeguarding public health. In Saudi Arabia, similar to numerous other developing nations, the swift pace of urbanization and industrialization has had detrimental effects on environmental quality, leading to an array of challenges related to environmental health. We discuss how the Kingdom has proactively launched several initiatives aimed at enhancing environmental health policies and management systems within the healthcare sector. And how the Saudi Arabiaâs healthcare system stands as one of the largest service sectors in the country. It operates under a comprehensive three tiered health policy framework, which includes a national health policy that serves the broader community, complemented by specific policies developed within health ministries to cater to curative and preventive services. Although environmental health concerns were acknowledged back in 1970 within the first national health policy of Saudi Arabia, it is only in more recent years that substantial efforts have been directed toward tackling environmental health issues more effectively.