The Saudi Red Crescent Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health on the sidelines of their participation in the Global Health Exhibition 2024, held at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center - Malham, from October 21 to 23, 2024. The MoU was signed by Eng. Khaled bin Dalouh Al-Olaiwi, Director General of the Department of Engineering Affairs and Support Services, on behalf of the Saudi Red Crescent, and by Mr. Musleh bin Ali Al-Anzi, Director General of Supply Quality and Efficiency, on behalf of the Ministry of Health.

The two parties aim through the agreement to collaborate on technical integration to ensure the availability of pharmaceutical stock, thereby achieving national pharmaceutical security and facilitating the transfer of supplies between health sectors. This will be achieved by linking data between both parties, enabling each to access the other's information. The agreement covers access to data on medical stock, consumption rates, and expiration dates, with the goal of improving inventory management, enhancing communication between health sectors, and ensuring the continuity of high-quality and efficient healthcare services.

The agreement also stipulates the availability of dashboards and performance indicators, providing clear insights into medical stock data across the health sector. This will facilitate monitoring and support between health entities, help identify challenges related to stock management, and improve procedures for anticipating shortages, enabling proactive planning and timely decision-making.

According to the MoU, the Ministry of Health’s role includes: providing the necessary data related to stock and supplying it to the Red Crescent, regularly updating the data to ensure its accuracy and reliability, offering technical support to the Red Crescent to ensure easy access and use of the data, and granting access to dashboards/systems that contain the required data, while taking all necessary measures to ensure the security and protection of the data.

The Ministry’s roles also include: monitoring performance, managing and analyzing data, and developing dashboards that provide comprehensive insights into the availability of medical supplies and related performance indicators.

The MoU defines the roles of the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, which include: providing the necessary data, regularly updating it to ensure accuracy and reliability, granting access to dashboards/systems, enabling the Ministry of Health to access the electronic systems containing the required data, and taking all necessary measures to ensure the security and protection of the data.