Deal calls for cooperation on improving healthcare quality and patient safety, and in combating pandemics and epidemics It also provides for cooperation in in scientific research in health and medicine, and facilitates information exchange in telemedicine RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Morocco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday to enhance cooperation on health, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Health Minister Fahad Al-Jalajel and Moroccan Minister of Health and Social Protection Khalid Ait Taleb inked the accord in Rabat. The MoU aims to support and develop health services and exchange expertise, and it covers therapeutic and preventive medicine, digital health, and pandemic management, said the report. A statement by Morocco’s health ministry also said the accord calls for cooperation on improving healthcare quality and patient safety, and in combating pandemics and epidemics, including early detection and control measures, as well as in scientific research in health and medicine, and facilitates information exchange in telemedicine. Left to right: Saudi Ambassador to Morocco Sami bin Abdullah Alsaleh, Moroccan Minister of Health and Social Protection Khalid Ait Taleb, Saudi Health Minister Fahad Al-Jalajel and Saudi Assistant Deputy Health Minister Rakan Khalid bin Dohaish. (SPA) The MoU will also “allow exploring opportunities for collaboration in blood services to ensure the availability of safe and sufficient blood supplies in both countries," said the statement, as reported by The Barlaman Today, a Moroccan publication. Moreover, the MoU’s provisions will be implemented through an exchange of information and expertise, organizing expert visits, conferences, and seminars, as well as training in the health sector. Minister Ait Taleb briefed the Saudi delegation on Morocco’s extensive healthcare reform initiatives, including efforts to expand social protection, achieve universal health coverage, and advance the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries, the statement added. In remarks to the media following the meeting, Al-Jalajel said that his visit to Morocco “is part of the historical relations between the two brotherly countries within the framework of joint Arab action.” Al-Jalajel’s meeting with his Moroccan counterpart was attended by Saudi Ambassador to Morocco Sami bin Abdullah Alsaleh and an official delegation from the ministry, including Assistant Deputy Health Minister Rakan Khalid bin Dohaish, in charge of international collaboration affairs. The delegation visited several governmental and private institutions in Morocco, including the National Institute of Health and a vaccine manufacturing plant, during which opportunities for cooperation were explored and discussed.