In his address to the opening session of the regional consultative workshop on primary health care, Minister of Health Dr. Osama Shobokshi stressed that the Kingdom's health strategy focuses on provision of qualitative primary health care for all citizens and residents. The four-day workshop is organized by the executive bureau of the health ministers of member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), and aims at promoting cooperation and exchanging expertise. Dr. Shobokshi praised the Kingdom's advanced level of health services, citing the 2000 WHO report that described Saudi Arabia as one of the best health service providers in the world.

At a press conference, Dr. Shobokshi confirmed that 90 percent of the work has been completed in formulating the regulations of the cooperative medical insurance, which will be applicable to expatriates residing in the Kingdom for an experimental period of three years.

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