Al-Salem to "Al-Anba": Positive results from updating pharmaceutical service policies in Primary Healthcare

Abdulkarim Al-Abdullah

Dr. Adel Al-Salem, Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department at the Ministry of Health, stated that the pilot phase for implementing the updated pharmaceutical service policies at primary healthcare centers yielded positive results and helped identify opportunities for improvement and practical challenges associated with implementation, paving the way for policy refinement and expanded rollout.

In a statement to Al-Anba, Al-Salem said the Pharmaceutical Services Department launched a pilot phase in July 2026 to implement several updated pharmaceutical policies across a group of primary healthcare centers. The aim was to assess the clarity of the policies and their feasibility in the workplace environment, while also documenting observations and challenges faced by pharmaceutical staff during execution.

He explained that the pilot phase saw active participation from the centers and pharmaceutical personnel, demonstrating good readiness to implement the policies in most participating centers, along with improvements in pharmaceutical practices. He noted that the pilot also enabled the identification of several practical challenges and the development of proposed solutions to address them.

Al-Salem added that upon the completion of the pilot phase in September, the implementation results were reviewed and the feedback from participating centers was analyzed. These insights were used to identify improvement opportunities and formulate recommendations for updating the policies, thereby enhancing the quality of pharmaceutical services, improving implementation efficiency, and supporting the standardization of practices in line with approved frameworks.