



































Use of Public Health Promotion Items to Improve Health in Saudi Arabia


 

 

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Use of Public Health Promotion 

Items to Improve Health in Saudi 

Arabia 
 
 

 

Khalid Al Aboud, Waleed Jameel, 

Zaheer Al Asmari, Hamdan Al 

Osaimy, Awateef Al Sobiani, 

Samiah Abdul Salam, Yasser Al 

Zahrani 
 
Department of Public Health, King Faisal 
Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia 

 

Vol. 2, No. 2 (2013)   |   ISSN 2166-7403 (Online)    

DOI 10.5195/cajgh.2013.77   |   http://cajgh.pitt.edu 

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AL ABOUD 

 

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. 

 

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part  

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Central Asian Journal of Global Health 

Volume 2, No. 2 (2013)  |  ISSN  2166-7403  (online)  |  DOI 10.5195/cajgh.2013.77  |  http://cajgh.pitt.edu 

  

 

 

Keywords: Promotional Gifts, Saudi Arabia, Public Health, e-Health, Disease Prevention 

 

Use of Public Health Promotion Items 

to Improve Health in Saudi Arabia 

 

 

Khalid Al Aboud, Waleed Jameel, 

Zaheer Al Asmari, Hamdan Al 

Osaimy, Awateef Al Sobiani, Samiah 

Abdul Salam, Yasser Al Zahrani 
 
Department of Public Health, King Faisal 
Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia 

Short Report 

In recent decades, the Saudi Arabian 

government has prioritized the development of health 

care services at all levels of care: primary, secondary, 

and tertiary. This has caused an improvement in health 

among the Saudi population.
1,2

 

Despite these improvements, there remains a 

large problem of language barriers between healthcare 

providers and their patients.
3,4

 Many Saudi health care 

providers come from other countries and do not speak 

Arabic. Bridging the gap between providers and their 

patients is crucial for improving the understanding of 

disease prevention. In the past, healthcare providers 

have tried multiple techniques to connect with their 

patients, including: utilization of the Internet and social 

media, promotional items like posters and leaflets, and 

information distributed through text-messaging 

services.
5,6

 Because addressing the language barrier has 

proven very difficult, experts have sought alternative 

methods for connecting health care providers to their 

patients. One potential method is to increase awareness 

about health care using gifts and promotional items.  

The use of gifts with printed public health 

messages has been suggested as an alternative because it 

helps to deliver important health care messages to the 

community.
5,7-9

 By definition, promotional or 

advertising gifts are merchandise that promote a 

company, corporate image, or brand. Some examples of 

gifts include calendars, mugs, bags, watches, or toys. 

The messages of these items can be used to promote any 

area related to public health awareness, such as: dengue 

fever control, early detection of breast cancer, and 

immunizations for childhood diseases. These messages 

must be concise, understandable, and targeted to the 

proper audience. For example, mugs with information 

about the importance of blood sugar control may be 

placed in diabetic clinics.  

The use of promotion items has proven 

successful when used appropriately, as shown among 

TB patients.
10

 A recent study by the Center for Global 

Development shows that people were more compliant 

and enthusiastic when given promotional gifts.  

Through use of promotional gifts, health care 

providers in Saudi Arabia may help change the public 

perception of health care and medicine, create 

awareness regarding specific public health messages, as 

well as improve health care providers’ relationships 

with their patients, despite language barriers.  

 

References 

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Saudi Arabia: an overview. Eastern Mediterranean health 

journal = La revue de sante de la Mediterranee orientale = al-

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CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF GLOBAL HEALTH 

 

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. 

 

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part  

of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program, and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. 

 

Central Asian Journal of Global Health 

Volume 2, No. 2 (2013)  |  ISSN  2166-7403  (online)  |  DOI 10.5195/cajgh.2013.77  |  http://cajgh.pitt.edu 

 

 

Majallah al-sihhiyah li-sharq al-mutawassit. 2011;17(10):784-

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Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for 

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7. Kickbusch I, Payne L. Twenty-first century health 

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8. The proven, often unconscious, influence of small gifts. 

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Effect of Educational Gifts from Pharmaceutical Firms on 

Medical Students' Recall of Company Names or Products. 

Academic Medicine. 1997;72(10):916-8. 

10. Beith A, Eichler R, Weil D. Worldwide: Incentives for 

Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment. In: Development CfG, 

editor. 2009. 

 

 

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