Health Endowment Fund

The Health Endowment Fund is a Saudi national fund that provides constant financial support against health crises and disasters. Its main concern is to involve the community in achieving sustainable health development. It is a financial endowment that invests contributors' funds in methods compliant with the Islamic Sharia under the supervision of the Sharia-based committee of the fund. Its investment returns are spent on health projects and programs that achieve its goals.

The role of the fund became prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it organized donations from individuals and private and government entities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Health Endowment Fund was established on February 4, 2008, with the then Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'wah and Guidance chairing its board of directors. In 2019, it was launched by a decision of the Council of Ministers to serve as a channel that accommodates the community's desire to assist others. The fund possesses legal, financial, and administrative independence, providing solutions based on rapid response to the most healthcare-needy segments of society, in addition to promoting health development. It aims to build a model of a health endowment capable of contributing to tackling health challenges, facilitating and activating community efforts to contribute to it, and reducing its impacts through qualitative and sustainable initiatives. The Minister of Health heads the fund.

The Health Endowment Fund manages its operations from its headquarters in Riyadh. It has a Sharia Committee composed of qualified and experienced individuals who prepare the studies required for the fund's work and address any issues that arise during its activities related to endowments.

The fund serves as a sustainable financial tool capable of providing solutions and reaching out to the most healthcare-needy segments of society. It represents an authenticated channel that facilitates individuals in the community to contribute to helping others.

The fund involves five strategic partners: The Ministry of Health, the private sector, non-governmental health organizations, medical and health colleges, and the Health Volunteering Center. The fund's financial resources are from the investment returns, the operation of the health facilities under its supervision, financial and material donations, and endowment in all its forms.

The Health Endowment Fund contributes to finding health protection programs and research. It also has several objectives, including offering aid in providing the needs of the patients - devices, treatment, and rehabilitation - especially patients with chronic diseases, contributing to health development by organizing and investing the fund's resources, and highlighting the importance of healthcare as an aspect of charity.