A conference planned for September 2005 will study the role of the private sector in the economics of health care in the Kingdom. The three-day conference, to be held in Riyadh, will have the title ‘International Conference on Health Care Economics and Endowments’, and cover topics such as ways of cutting costs and enhancing efficiency in management as well as how to involve the private sector in the provision of health services.

Participating in the planned conference will be the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call, and Guidance, to explore the efficient use of income from endowments for health care projects. Conference chairman Dr. Fahad Al-Orifi, a consultant at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, commented that it is hoped to encourage people to use endowments to fund health care. The private sector, he said, needs to become more involved in health care projects because of the increase in the Kingdom’s population, currently running at 4 percent annually. Another aspect of the discussion will be the implications for the provision of health care of the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

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