Saudi Arabia, Morocco sign MoU to strengthen health sectors, pandemic preparedness

Saudi Arabia and Morocco have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation in the health sector and pandemic preparedness, amid growing aims to coordinate such efforts across the Arab world in line with global health developments.

During his official visit to Morocco’s capital, Rabat, earlier this month, Saudi Minister of Health, Fahad Al-Jalajel, met with his Moroccan counterpart, Khalid Ait Taleb, to discuss cooperation between the two countries and their efforts to enhance coordination in the health sector.

The meeting – which was also attended by Saudi ambassador to Morocco, Dr Sami Bin Abdullah Alsaleh, and an official delegation from the Health Ministry – resulted in the two ministers signing Memorandum of Understanding, with its focus on exchanging expertise and developing health services, therapeutic and preventive medicine, digital health and pandemic management.

As part of his visit, Al-Jalajel also visited governmental and private institutions in Morocco, including the National Institute of Health and a vaccine manufacturing plant, where he discussed opportunities to cooperate in the development of both countries’ health sector.

Increased regional efforts to accelerate coordination between countries’ health sectors comes at a time when reports are spreading on the emergent ‘mpox’ – formerly known as ‘monkeypox’ – epidemic, which is currently sweeping across parts of Africa and, most recently, parts of Asia. Fears are mounting of the potential for it to be branded as a pandemic in coming months, pushing countries across the world to, once again, strengthen their health sectors, enhance their systems and boost regional coordination in line with similar efforts taken by the international community and the World Health Organisation (WHO) with its aim to establish the global pandemic preparedness treaty.

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