Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Ministry (MoH) of Health provides several free e-services to citizens in order to facilitate and speed up the services required by them.

The services that are provided by the MoH through its e-platforms in order to take care of the health needs of the citizens of all age groups and to save time for the beneficiaries are:

1 – Queries on Treatment Abroad Orders. Through this service the applicant will be able to follow up on the status of his request for treatment abroad that he submitted to the Medical Commission and Health Attache General Department via public and local medical commissions, health attaches abroad, or other entities.

The service will assist him in inquiring about the status of his request for treatment abroad, its approval, or its extension, as well as requests for treatment in referral hospitals for non-Saudis inside the Kingdom.

2 – Premarital Screening. The service helps those people who are about to get married to find out if they are suffering from hereditary blood diseases or some contagious diseases.

The examination aims to give medical advice, options and alternatives to the couples about the possibility of transmitting these diseases to their marriage partner or their children in the future, in order to help them plan a healthy family.

3 – Pregnancy Due Date Calculator. This service offers several advantages that help women take care of their health to ensure an easy pregnancy free of complications and a healthy baby. It gives advice on the best time to get pregnant and helps calculate the pregnancy due date.

4 – Vaccination Reminder service for children. The MoH has established this service to remind parents of the dates of the basic vaccinations for their children against the diseases targeted for immunization according to the new vaccination schedule of the Ministry.

The parents will receive a text message on their mobile phone or via their emails one week before reminding them of their child's vaccination date.

5 – Child Vaccination E-Certificate. This service helps parents to issue an e-certificate for their child as a substitute for the paper vaccination card, and it can be obtained at any time through the Sehhaty app.

The Child Vaccination E-Certificate is characterized by the fact that it includes all vaccinations since the birth of the child, as well as the ease of viewing the certificate at any time and is an alternative to the paper vaccination certificate.

6 – Mental Health Service (Qareboon). This is one of the very important services that the MoH provides via its e-platform, and through which it aims to provide a mental health counseling.

The Qareboon application is considered an integrated library that contains endless information about mental health with the latest means and methods, such as text materials, infographics, and visual content (video) and it is supervised by a specialized team of staff and qualified cadres.

7 – Eating Disorder Test. This is also one of the important services provided by the MoH, especially for teenagers. This service helps discover whether an individual has an eating disorder or not.

The Eating Disorder makes the individual take a test consisting of several questions about the way he eats to see if he suffers from an eating disorder, which is one of the major problems that may require specialized intervention to resolve, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and many more.

8 – Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator. It is a mathematical process for calculating the body mass of a person (both sexes) based on several factors such as height and age. Calculating body mass index is aimed at identifying the ideal weight of an individual.

9 – Calorie Calculate. This service provided by the MoH helps a person to perform a mathematical calculation based on the number of calories consumed per day for both sexes by taking into several factors such as weight, height, age and the nature of the daily physical activity.

10 – Ideal Body Weight (IBW) Calculator. A mathematical process that helps a person to calculate his weight to know his ideal healthy body weight (kg) ranges based on height (cm).

11 – Find Out Sleep Disorder. This service helps people understand the depth of their sleep, if they sleep well or suffer from any problems or insomnia. The ministry provides them with several questions to know their sleep level in addition to practical advice to improve sleep.

The Ministry noted that this test is not an accurate diagnostic method, and it is important to visit a doctor for a proper diagnosis if the person is suspected of suffering from a sleep disorder.

12 – Asthma Control Test. In this service, the Ministry of Health provides an asthma control test for adults and children. The test consists of many questions that help understand their condition, and whether the intervention of a doctor is required or not.

13 – Prediabetes Risk Test. The service helps the individual to pay attention on how to avoid the risk of diabetes. The test asks the beneficiary to answer several questions related to weight, gender, age, exercise level and whether the individual has been diagnosed with high blood pressure. The beneficiary can obtain advice to help make the necessary decision, whether by visiting a doctor or through home treatment.

14 – Visual Acuity Test app. The app can be installed on devices for the purpose of measuring visual acuity (VA). The MoH provides a test in the app similar to the test that is used in eye hospitals and clinics.

The MoH said the test is not a substitute for vision tests carried out in eye clinics, noting that the evidence of the accuracy of smart device apps in measuring visual acuity is still limited.

15 – Sick Leave Service. The service aims to issue e-sick leave by linking the relevant authorities represented by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior, the Specialization Authority, and the Ministry of Civil Service.

The service will automate the procedures between these authorities in an integrated manner by electronic linkage, which will allow the service provider from the health authorities to issue sick leave and share it electronically with the beneficiaries.

The service also enables the sick leave report to be shared with the final beneficiary electronically, through text messages, in addition to the print feature in the portal.

16 – Anti-Smoking Clinics. These clinics aim to facilitate the access of those wishing to quit smoking to therapeutic services by integrating the clinics within other sectors providing health services. It ensures the provision of a unified service to each patient with a high quality.

Through these clinics, the Ministry of Health seeks to provide the best preventive and curative services to the largest possible segment, as these services are carried out by qualified and trained cadres, according to the Saudi Clinical Guidelines for Tobacco Cessation Services.

17 – Mawid app. The service aims to enable both the patient and the service recipient to book the appointment he needs in the primary health care centers in coordination with the Appointments Department. The patient can book, reschedule, or cancel the appointment in any hospital that he was referred to.

18 – Transactions Inquiry Service. This service aims to help the clients of the Ministry of Health to check the status of the transactions they submitted to the MoH electronically through the Ministry’s portal.

The MoH confirmed that this service is provided without the need for a login name and password, as it enables all the portal visitors who have transaction information at the Ministry of Health to use this service.

19 – E-Prescription Service. This service is distinguished by allowing the user to dispense medicines from commercial pharmacies through remote consultation via MoH channels.

The Ministry clarified that it is possible to call the MoH call center (937) or to use the Sehhaty app to receive an e-prescription that can be dispensed from the nearest pharmacy without the need to visit a doctor.

20 – E-Employment Services. This free service enables citizens to apply for jobs, which are announced by the Ministry of Health.

21 – Interactive Map. The service informs people about the working hours in hospitals, clinics, Primary Healthcare Centers and many more according to the area in order to facilitate the search process for individuals.

The service also includes a List of Mental Health Complexes and Hospitals and a List of Medical rehabilitation services in MOH hospitals.

22 – Expanded Testing. This service is one of Saudi Arabia's initiatives to confront COVID-19. It benefits citizens and residents by enabling them to test for coronavirus in a number of fixed and mobile sites spread throughout the Kingdom.

23 – Book an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine service. This service is considered an optional service provided to all citizens and residents to receive the Coronavirus vaccine, enabling them to book an appointment in advance through the Sehhaty app to receive the vaccine at the nearest center.

24 – Registration for COVID-19 In-Home Vaccination for 70+ Years. A home vaccination service for 70-year-olds and above who are eligible to be vaccinated to preserve their health and protect them from complications of COVID-19 infection, and to reduce the difficulty for them to go to the vaccination centers to get vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health is not providing its services to citizens alone; there are many services that benefit residents, students, patients, volunteers and others in several comprehensive matters that help them and their families to understand their body and their physical, mental and psychological health.