Meetings of the Council of Ministers

During its regular weekly sessions in May and June, the Council of Ministers reviewed the following topics:

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz on May 13 chaired the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, which was briefed by Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush on April 25, which focused on ways of reducing tension in the Middle East and achieving a just and lasting peace.

Crown Prince Abdullah chaired a meeting of the Cabinet on June 3 that approved a new health bill which provides comprehensive health care, including prenatal and pediatric care, vaccination programs, health care for the handicapped and the elderly, control of contagious and epidemic diseases, treatment of chronic diseases, accidents, disasters and psychiatric health.

Under the bill, the Ministry of Health is to provide an integrated network of health services to cover all parts of the Kingdom. The bill delineates the sources of funding for health care as coming from endowments, grants, donations and bequests as well as from the State budget and revenues from health insurance.

The new bill provides for the establishment of a health service council that will be responsible for formulating health care strategy and coordination policies among all concerned parties. The bill also allows transfer of ownership to the private sector of certain Ministry of Health hospitals.

At a June 10 meeting chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah, the Cabinet approved a proposal submitted by the Supreme Economic Council to restructure the Saudi Arabian Postal Authority (SAPA) and to transfer the General Directorate for Postal Services, an affiliate of the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones, to a public organization run by a board of directors composed of representatives from both the public and the private sectors.

At the weekly session of June 17, Crown Prince Abdullah briefed the Cabinet on his recent talks with visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on ways of reducing the tension between Pakistan and India, and efforts exerted to avert war and solve the dispute peacefully. The Cabinet welcomed the signs of a breakthrough between the protagonists and expressed the hope that these signs will lead to mutual understanding and a peaceful solution. The Cabinet also congratulated President Hamid Karzai on his election as the leader of Afghanistan, wishing him success in achieving security, stability and prosperity for his country.

The Cabinet then approved a proposal that private colleges receive government subsidies, soft loans and other incentives similar to those extended to entities in the commercial and service sectors.

Crown Prince Abdullah on June 24 briefed the Cabinet on his consultations with leaders of many countries as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to help realize a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis and comprehensive peace in the region. In this regard, the Cabinet welcomed the European Union’s call for immediate moves to set up a Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

The Cabinet urged the international community to play an effective and positive role in ending the cycle of violence in the Israeli-occupied territories and expressed the hope that the United States will succeed in its efforts to reach a solution acceptable to all concerned parties. It reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to work with Arab and other friendly countries worldwide to ensure security and stability, and to bring about a lasting peace and continued cooperation. It stressed the necessity of ending the suffering of the Palestinian people and guaranteeing their right to security and stability.