This highlights Bupa Arabia’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, a company statement said.

It said Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Yousef, deputy minister of social affairs for care and social development, and Loay Nazer, chairman of Bupa Arabia, signed the deal.

Also present at the signing ceremony were Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al-Majali, assistant deputy to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Mohammed Al-Harbi, general manager of Orphanage Care at the Ministry, along with other delegates from the Ministry, and Tal Nazer, CEO of Bupa Arabia, accompanied by Bupa Arabia’s social responsibility team. 

The statement said that agreement has the full support of Social Affairs Minister Yousef bin Ahmad Al Othaimeen.

Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al-Yousef expressed his joy at the agreement.

He said: “The Ministry will provide all the necessary support in order for this ambitious program to be successfully implemented. We hold these orphans close to our hearts and it is our aim to provide them with the highest standards of social care, education, career training and development of their talents to help them face the challenges of life.”

Nazer, founder of the Bupa Arabia initiative, said: “This signing is a major step forward in our plan to provide free health insurance for more than 3,000 children at orphanages registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs and we consider it a privilege to complement the ministry’s excellent work by making it possible for the children to receive the best health care available.”

Bupa Arabia enrolled almost 400 orphans to their program in 2011, starting with Al-Rafeef Home in April followed by Women’s Welfare Center, Dar Al-Tarbiya and Dar Al-Hadana.