RIYADH: A Saudi expert on Monday highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to improve public health and disease prevention, including its work during the COVID-19 epidemic, and emphasized the urgent need for nations to develop a comprehensive policy agenda for science and technology. Munir Eldesouki, president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, was leading the Saudi delegation at a G20-Chief Science Advisers roundtable meeting in New Delhi, India. During his speech at the event, he said that planners face a number of challenges, including the rapid influx of new information and data, and the lack of sufficient indicators to help assess policy effects, the Saudi Press Agency reported In addition to discussing the work of authorities to enhance public health, he talked about the establishment of the first virtual hospital in the Kingdom based on an integrated, one-health approach that aims to sustainably balance the health of the population with that of the wider environment, and efforts to facilitate access to specialized health services. The Saudi National Institute of Health was established to encourage research and development collaborations in the areas of disease prevention, epidemic preparedness, vaccine development, and tackling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Eldesouki added. Meanwhile, the leadership shown by the Kingdom in efforts to control dengue fever through environmentally friendly biological control techniques has positioned it as a global leader in combating vector-borne diseases, he said. He also highlighted the country’s commitment to open access to data and the exchange of scientific knowledge. To this end, the Kingdom has developed open research platforms, an open data portal, and the Gulf database platform “Jisr,” developed and operated by the Saudi Research and Innovation Network, Maeen. Saudi authorities have defined principles of data regulation ethics and artificial intelligence models to help mitigate data loss and address potential negative effects and threats posed by artificial intelligence, Eldesouki said. He also reviewed his country’s contributions to scientific research, noting its leading position in the region, and 30th place globally, in the Nature 2022 Index of high-quality scientific research. There are plans to further increase the number of researchers in the Kingdom, he added, with a particular focus on bridging the gender gap. Saudi women already have significant representation in the technology sector, surpassing the average among G20 countries and EU member states, he said. Eldesouki noted the historic achievement of Rayana Bernawi, the first Saudi female astronaut, who in May became the first Arab woman in space. He also highlighted the significant number of Saudi women that have participated in the annual Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in the US.