His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, recently issued a ministerial decision to reconstitute the National Scientific Committee for Infectious Diseases affiliated to the National Center for Disease Control and Protection (Saudi CDC). Moreover, His Excellency appointed Dr. Muhammad Qarout, Professor of Community Medicine and Pilgrims Health Care at the UQU College of Medicine, as a member of the committee for a tenure of two years, as from the date of the decision.

The Saudi CDC works with relevant authorities in preparing plans, laws, regulations and programs related to health promotion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as monitoring, measuring and evaluating risk factors to prevent infectious and other types of diseases in order to combat them. This is achieved by providing innovative evidence-based solutions, preparing qualified national cadres and harnessing scientific expertise to practice the service in the field of public health and health education, and acting as the national entity responsible for launching all health initiatives in the Saudi Kingdom.

Dr. Muhammad Qarout, Epidemiology and Infection Control Specialist at many different hospitals, is an academic who specializes in health care at the UQU. He has presented many scientific papers on infection control and conducted descriptive studies on disease spread in specific areas. He has also held various positions at the UQU, in addition to his laudable external scientific contributions.