Early Intervention, Big Results: Saudi Arabia’s Health Transformation Program Delivers

Discovering obesity, diabetes, and breast cancer quick successes for the healthcare overhaul

Saudi Arabia’s health transformation program has made significant progress in key health indicators, including average life expectancy, which rose to 77.6 years in 2023 from 74 years in 2016.

The program’s focus on early detection of diseases is a major contributor to this progress. In 2023, more than 5 million people were screened for obesity, resulting in more than 1 million cases being detected. More than 1 million people were screened for diabetes, resulting in approximately 11,000 cases being detected. Additionally, 160,000 women were screened for breast cancer, resulting in 654 cases being detected.

Early detection of diseases is important because it allows for treatment in the early stages when the disease is more likely to be successfully treated and the risk of complications is lower. It also helps to reduce healthcare costs, as the cost of treating diseases in the early stages is much lower than the cost of treating advanced diseases.

The Saudi health transformation program aims to achieve several objectives, including improving access to healthcare, enhancing the quality and efficiency of services, and promoting prevention against health and traffic risks.

The program is working to achieve these objectives through several transformative initiatives, including promoting a culture of walking, reducing salt levels in food, disclosing calorie content in fast food, developing a national health insurance system, and improving the performance of hospitals and their staff.