Patient’s medicinal knowledge in Saudi Arabia: Are we doing well?

AbstractPatient education is one of the main factors of patient therapeutic plan and without it, the patient may not benefit from his/her medications. Several studies showed the effectiveness of educating patients about their disease(s) and their medication(s) which ultimately enhance their quality of life especially in chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Concept of patient education is well known and understood in the Western countries while in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia it is not well established despite some efforts made by few big hospitals. In Saudi Arabia, different stakeholders such as hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals, health societies and association and governmental agencies do not do their job as patient education. Aim of this paper was to throw some light about the current situation in Saudi Arabia