His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday launched the National e-Health Programme, Hakeem, which will create a database of medical histories of patients across the Kingdom over the long-term.

During a visit to Prince Hamzah Hospital, where the project was launched, King Abdullah also instructed the government to provide the state-run hospital with the equipment and staff required to provide advanced services to citizens.

The King was briefed on the project, which will be initially implemented at three hospitals - Prince Hamzah Hospital, Al Hussein Cancer Centre and Amman Comprehensive Healthcare Centre - in the spring of 2010. The plan will expand to cover all of the Kingdom's public and military hospitals in six to seven years, according to Hakeem Director Ghassan Lahham.

The project will serve as a bank of every patient's medical history and include all tests, procedures and surgeries performed, in addition to recording diseases, allergies, medications and other health information.

"This will save time and effort, reduce reliance on paperwork and reduce the waste of drugs as medics will know the medical history of each patient in a few seconds by using the system," Minister of Health Nayef Fayez said Tuesday.

The system also seeks to minimise medical errors and provide accurate information on patients, said the minister, adding that the technology will reduce pressure on medical facilities generally.

The project is initiated by e-Health Solutions, a nonprofit company that has as stakeholders the ministries of health and information and communications technology, the Royal Medical Services, Al Hussein Cancer Centre, the Private Hospitals Association, the Royal Health Awareness Society and the King Hussein Institute for Biotechnology and Cancer.

Lahham said the database will help "greatly" reduce waste, adding that once the project is implemented there will be no need for paper files and documents.

"Sometimes patients forget if they are allergic to a certain medicine or if they have undergone particular tests in the past. The system will help medical staff find out this information in no time by entering the national ID number of each patient, which will ensure efficiency in their work," Lahham said.