Prepared by: ISPOR Saudi chapter executive committee
The 2nd Saudi ISPOR annual meeting "Focusing on Real-World Evidence (RWE), Patient Reported Outcomes and Health Equity" was held with a great success on 28-29 September 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The meeting gathered more than 1000 attendees (on-site and virtual) showcasing a lot of interesting topics in many specialties and hosted diverse local, regional, and international experts and governmental officials. The opening remarks were presented by the president of ISPOR Saudi chapter, Dr. Suliman Alghannam, head of population health, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The sessions were hosted by more than 20 speakers and moderators with different backgrounds. Among those hosts were Prof. Yousef Assiri (president of Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia), Dr. Chris Bojke (Professor of Health Economics, University of Leeds, United Kingdom), Dr. Mohamed Aljumah (Neurologist), Prof. John Seeger (Chief scientific officer, Epidemiology department at Optum, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA) and Dr. Hussam Alfaleh (CEO of the health insurance program at the vision realization office, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), and Dr. Mohammed Alnahedh (Director of Pharmacy at King Faisal specialist hospital and research center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).
The meeting lasted for 2 days with sessions divided into 6 main sessions between in-person and virtual presenters. The event focused on real-world evidence and health equity topics. On day 1, September 28th, the first session focused on real-world evidence, and how to overcome challenges in obtaining RWE for the decision-making process. The 2nd session discussed health equity topics, especially for rare conditions, and the last session discussed the national healthcare financing and reimbursement solutions in the KSA in a panel discussion.
The second day, September 29th, featured three sessions: patients engagements, procurement & supply chain, and health insurance policies in the KSA. The patients engagement session was presented by Dr. Reem Al-Khalifa (Endocrinologist, King Saud Medical City, Riyad, Saudi Arabia) to support and understand diabetic patients needs and preferences. Followed by a panel discussion held by multiple stakeholders to discuss and highlight procurement and medication shortages in Saudi Arabia. The last session showcased the current and future health insurance policies in the kingdom, presented by the keynote speakers Dr. Nasser Aljehani (Director of enablement and supervision and spokesman of the Council of health insurance (CCHI) in Saudi Arabia), Dr. Nada Alageel (Policy manager, CCHI) and Dr. Faisal Alshammari (Director of Data and Artificial intelligence at the CCHI). Moreover, To engage students and academic professionals, A special talk titled "How to submit/publish a good Pharmacoeconomics/policy paper" was presented by Dr. Saja Almazrou (Associate Professor, Pharmacy College, King Saud University).
The meeting featured a great poster session to engage more students from different pharmacy schools and to enhance the awareness of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research in the kingdom. Prizes were honored to the winners of the best posters presented. The presence of ISPOR chapter students from different pharmacy schools in the Kingdom was noticeable and very promising.
Finally, during the closing ceremony, the president of the ISPOR Saudi Arabia Chapter acknowledged the sponsors and speakers who participated in the event. Aspire, Est. has successfully organized and supported the chapter in communicating with different stakeholders on a regional level.